La Salle veterans home changes donations policy to distribute items to residents quicker

The Illinois Veterans Home in La Salle changed its policy to distribute donated items.

Earlier this week, the superintendent at the La Salle County Veterans Assistance Commission wrote a letter saying that donations from a recent drive for residents were not being made “readily available,” noting the facility’s practices often took a week before items were distributed.

Steven Kreitzer, superintendent of the La Salle County Veterans Assistance Commission, was informed Thursday by state officials that a new process has been set up to distribute donations through the registered nurses on each wing.

“Multiple keys have been made to the donation storage area and each wing has a key,” said Bridget Dooley, public information officer at the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. “If a veteran needs an item, staff can take the key and retrieve the item for them and log what was retrieved and for whom it was retrieved 24 hours a day.”

Prior to this change, items were locked in a secured area, out of concern that staff were taking some of these supplies. This process left the facility’s head of activities in charge of distributing supplies when requested for residents, a process that could take days or a week, Kreitzer said.

Kreitzer thanked everyone who helped spread the word to enact the change. Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, was one of them; she wrote a letter to the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs asking for a resolution.

Kreitzer received clarity on whether veterans are being charged for donated items. He also raised this concern in his letter. He was told there is a process so that there is no confusion when a donated item is given to a veteran or a purchased item is charged.

“We look forward to sharing this process to clear up any and all confusion,” Kreitzer said.

The donation drive, which asked folks to drop off specific items at the La Salle County courthouses or Peru HyVee, supplied the facility with 61 denture creams, 3,598 denture cleaning tablets, 31 electric razors, 176 toothpastes, 480 toothbrushes, 247 body washes and shampoos, 48 conditioners, 159 bottles of lotion and 78 pairs of socks.

You can still donate items

The drive will continue through Dec. 31.

Items may be dropped off at the La Salle courthouses at 119 W. Madison St. or 707 E. Etna Road in Ottawa, or HyVee on Midtown Road in Peru. Call the La Salle County Veterans Assistance for special arrangements at 815-433-1761.

Needed items are shampoo/conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, lotion, denture glue/denture cleaner, toothpaste/toothbrushes and electric razors. All items must be in new/unopened condition.