•December 14, 2016•

Throughout the month of November, now established as “Veterans Month,” hundreds of volunteers participated across the state of Illinois in the Serving Those Who Served (STWS) Program. Their goal was to make an impact in the lives of veterans throughout Illinois through a community service program designed by the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

“We wanted to offer more to our Illinois Heroes than one more Veterans Day program or parade. We knew we could count on our fellow Illinoisans to volunteer and assist our veterans,” IDVA Director Erica Jeffries said.

The STWS program brought in seven other partners to increase the success of the program. Serve Illinois, Chicago Cares, Boeing, Corporation for National & Community Service, Illinois Joining Forces, Student Veterans of America and Campus Compact. Each of these partners assisted the program with either volunteers, funding or community service projects. The program allowed organizations to register a project for volunteers to assist with during the month of November. The website created through Serve Illinois allowed Illinoisans to look for a project in their area and sign up to volunteer for that project. At the end of the month, there were 41 projects drawing in 570 volunteers. Collectively, the projects provided service, support, and assistance to over 3,730 Illinois veterans.      Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.