100 Women Who Care Foothills presented their first cheque of the year on Friday.

The Veterans Association Food Bank was chosen as the latest recipient, and received $7500.

On hand at the cheque presentation were Executive Director Julie Boake, the 100 Women member who nominated the food bank Carola Singer, and the food bank's founder, Marie Blackburn.

Also in attendance was Mike Nelson, a veteran and volunteer with the Veterans Association Food Bank.

Nelson recounted his history with PTSD and his path to meeting Blackburn and getting involved with the organization.

After receiving a text from his now ex-wife telling him she never wanted to see him again, Nelson wanted to end his life. He and a friend fellow veteran pulled over on the side of the highway, after which Nelson attempted to jump into traffic. His friend was able to stop Nelson's attempt on his own life and get him to a safer place.

A close friend of Nelson challenged him to get involved with volunteer work with other veterans, at which point he was made aware of the Veterans Association Food Bank.

After much correspondence with Blackburn, Nelson finally met her in person.

"Most normal people when you meet them, they go and shake your hand. I walked in, she looked at me, she says 'you must be Mike,' and walked over and gave me a hug."

Since then, Nelson has been helping others out of similar situations to the one he found himself in.

"My first call out, as hard as it was, and the amount of tears I had at the end of the day for it, that's when I knew I needed to stay around and annoy [Blackburn] every day because I'd actually done something good to help another veteran out. If we hadn't have gone that day, he was going to end his life."

He says the organization has now saved his life twice and has provided immeasurable support.

"Now I have a task and purpose, I have self-worth, I feel more like a human being again, and I proudly now say that I am a veteran."

One of Nelson's goals is to eliminate the common misconception that individuals must have served overseas to qualify as veterans, something he says does a great disservice to Canada's many reservists.

He gave the personnel who aided with the 2013 floods as a prime example.

"A lot of those guys were reservists. I had a conversation with a gentleman today about that. I said 'who was driving in those G-wagons through downtown Calgary looking for people?' That's reservists. These are people that are part-time soldiers. They are doing this, they're putting their lives on the line. We all signed that line to say we will serve our country, and that's what they were doing. So there is no distinction in our minds."

Founder Marie Blackburn says the name may be misleading, as the Veterans Association Food Bank provides much more than just food bank services.

"We realized there was so much more that veterans needed, so if you're facing homelessness or job loss, there are things we can do to correct that process. So if we have to pay your bills for you to get you through to another month, retrain you, network to find you a job, it just became so much more than a food bank."

It now serves as a second home for many veterans, who are able to utilize it as a means to make friends, find support, or just be around others who understand.

"We've helped numerous veterans with pets because we understand that tat's sometimes the only family member they have. Just anything that would be a daily issue for the common folk would be what we help a veteran with. So that's where the money will most likely go, into our EVAP program, which is emergency funding assistance, so we thank these ladies from the bottom of our hearts."

 

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