General Needs has distributed these items to veterans in shelters since the beginning, and our signature program continues to grow.
General Needs hosts two classes of Special Needs Students from Commack High School on Wednesdays throughout the school year. The students assist with counting, sorting, and packing the donation items, and the class serves as a life skills class for future employment.
Our collection drives have been hosted by various groups, including:
These collection drives provide basic necessities to veterans, including:
The donations are an invaluable resource, providing a continuous ebb and flow of necessary inventory.
School children make Thank You for Your Service Cards that are included in each donation to a veteran. The veterans cherish these cards, which include drawings and notes about their families that truly express the child’s gratitude toward the veteran.
General Needs enjoys working with the knitting and crochet guilds, which create and donate wonderful homemade blankets throughout the year. We collect these and package them for our Holiday Distributions, which include a special “Handmade with Love for General Needs“ label.
The veterans often have an emotional response to the blankets as they evoke fond memories of their family members’ homes and the holidays.
Local businesses have scheduled “Corporate Volunteer Days” to assist with counting, sorting, packing, and organizing the General Needs Warehouse. These are fun days of working with your colleagues and exercising team-building skills while positively impacting veterans in need. These tasks are necessary to keep General Needs growing and moving forward to assist more veterans in need locally.
Unless a veteran is 100% veteran service-connected, they do not receive dental benefits through the VA System. Therefore, many veterans have poor dental care which escalates to untreated cavities, pain, and potential tooth loss.
General Needs has started a Dental Project for veterans needing dental care based on referral. We have helped a number of veterans from their initial dental exam all the way through extractions and denture fittings. This is life-changing for these individual veterans who can now eat, talk, and smile without pain or embarrassment. One of our primary goals is to help veterans return to work and public society with confidence.
Did you know that every day, 22 veterans commit suicide throughout our nation? This devastating statistic inspired us to start the 1342 Project.
November and December combine to have 61 days. Multiply 61 by 22, and you have our original mission: Donating 1342 new boots to veterans in need.
In 2023, General Needs started a new goal of donating 1342 new pillows to veterans. This is due to the fact that a good night’s sleep provides various benefits, including helping those with PTSD.
General Needs participates in the Nassau and Suffolk County Stand Down events, which are held semi-annually. These events can be drive-through or agency-based table events at which General Needs distributes new, high-quality items such as sneakers, socks, backpacks, boots, coats, pillows/pillowcases, and other items.
Stand Downs (SD) are typically one- to three-day events providing supplies and services to homeless Veterans, such as food, shelter, clothing, health screenings and VA Social Security benefits counseling. Veterans can also receive referrals to other assistance such as health care, housing solutions, employment, substance use treatment and mental health counseling. They are collaborative events, coordinated between local VA Medical Centers, the Department of Labor (DOL), other government agencies and community-based homeless service providers.
Observed annually on November 11th, Veterans Day honors military veterans throughout our nation. At General Needs, our team treats every day like Veterans Day. The Veterans Day Parade provides an opportunity to raise further awareness regarding the daily plight many Long Island veterans face.