Veterans and volunteers fix up Orlando DAV Center

A non-profit agency that serves 15,000 veterans in Central Florida with an annual budget of $16,000 had to make a tough decision. Were they to spend their funds entirely on the needs of homeless and other veterans or finally start a badly needed renovation project in the building they have called home for 49 years?

"It was coming down to hard decisions," said Brad Bouters, commander of DAV Chapter 16 in Orlando.

Then another non-profit stepped in and with the help of The Home Depot Foundation were able to pull off the repair job. The Mission Continues organized over 100 volunteers who showed up at 2040 W. Central Avenue on Tuesday morning to turn it into a new place of work.

The DAV office there is normally open two days a week for paperwork, while the rest of the time veterans are working in the field with homeless veterans, Bouters explained. Not one DAV volunteer gets paid.

"It's just veterans giving back," he said.

Wearing the familiar orange clothing, the volunteers from Home Depots around Orlando busily went about replacing ceiling tiles, painting walls inside and out, replacing old windows with more energy efficient types and even laying out a new patio and some landscaping. New appliances were installed in the kitchen.

The DAV is funded entirely through donations. Chapter 16 moved into their building back in 1962, but had too little money on hand for upkeep.

The volunteer effort was begun by The Mission Continues, which empowers veterans who still want to serve their country, but were no longer deemed fit to serve in the military. The organization was founded in 2007 with the military disability checks of several wounded veterans.

"We find projects and we find people we can work hand-in-hand with," said Aimee Haas, an Air Force veteran for 13 years until she was medically retired last April.

The Home Depot Foundation is in the midst of a two month campaign called a "Celebration of Service" designed to improve the lives of military vets with a combined 200 volunteer projects around the nation. The facelift for the DAV chapter in Orlando is one of 24 major projects selected by the Foundation.