I found it disturbing that someone would do this.... (veterans, military, request)

[OneDayAttaTime]

I volunteer with Oklahoma American Veterans News to help Vets. We have 7 power wheel chairs to give away.

I had posted it on Craig's List under the free stuff with this title:

Wheel chair for Veterans who have been turned down by the VA

It read:

Are you an Oklahoma military veteran who has been turned down by the VA for a power wheelchair? If so, do you have the paperwork showing that you were turned down and do you have some way to come to Ft Smith, AR to pick up a power wheel chair?


As a volunteer for OAVN I can tell you that Oklahoma American Veterans News is sincere in helping Veterans. See a picture of one of the wheelchairs: http://oavn.org/howwecanhelpyou.html




We got several responses....from people who said things like this- they had never been a vet...but their grandpa was....and they already had a wheel chair but they always wanted one of these so please call them and they would explain it better.

We had to turn them back because the donor wants them to go to Vets who meet that criteria.

We got a few responses from nice people saying they appreciated what we do.....AND THEN I got a notice that someone had flagged my post and it got deleted.

We are just volunteers trying to do what we can and we are sincere. We don't have the money to take out ads to track down people who need some help (we don't get paid and we use what money we get donated for our Vets.) So they just made it harder for us to reach the people we are trying to help.


I have another post on there that I am expected to see deleted at any moment.

[M3 Mitch]

Jerks and creeps have always been a dime a dozen. Probably someone had an analogous problem during the Roman Empire or even in ancient Egypt.

Reps to you for trying, anyway.

Maybe a Veterans Organization of some sort and/or want ad in local city paper would work better?

[CoastalMaine]

It may have been the addition of the website that flagged the post. Try redoing the ad without it and see if that gets deleted. Just say in your ad, to contact you via email and you will be happy to return pics and info on the chair through private communications so you don't violate TOS.

Thanks for your generous offer for our veterans.

Originally Posted by OneDayAttaTime

I volunteer with Oklahoma American Veterans News to help Vets. We have 7 power wheel chairs to give away.

I had posted it on Craig's List under the free stuff with this title:

Wheel chair for Veterans who have been turned down by the VA

It read:

Are you an Oklahoma military veteran who has been turned down by the VA for a power wheelchair? If so, do you have the paperwork showing that you were turned down and do you have some way to come to Ft Smith, AR to pick up a power wheel chair?


As a volunteer for OAVN I can tell you that Oklahoma American Veterans News is sincere in helping Veterans. See a picture of one of the wheelchairs: http://oavn.org/howwecanhelpyou.html




We got several responses....from people who said things like this- they had never been a vet...but their grandpa was....and they already had a wheel chair but they always wanted one of these so please call them and they would explain it better.

We had to turn them back because the donor wants them to go to Vets who meet that criteria.

We got a few responses from nice people saying they appreciated what we do.....AND THEN I got a notice that someone had flagged my post and it got deleted.

We are just volunteers trying to do what we can and we are sincere. We don't have the money to take out ads to track down people who need some help (we don't get paid and we use what money we get donated for our Vets.) So they just made it harder for us to reach the people we are trying to help.


I have another post on there that I am expected to see deleted at any moment.

[Submariner]

I am the chaplain at my VFW post.

We have spare wheelchairs and crutches, and stuff.

I would contact the VFW, they are vets and they deal all the time with vets. If a vet is having a hard time with the VA, then the VFW is likely in the loop.

[OneDayAttaTime]

Thank you.

I did re-post it and took off the link where they could see the chair. This time we got a few people saying that they didn't need one but appreciated what we were doing. Then ZAP! someone deleted it again!!

Too bad they let just anyone delete, them.


But on a bright note I called several businesses locally who had never given Veterans discounts before. Some have to get it ok'd by corporate and are requesting that it be implemented in the 6 states where their stores are. People have been nice and they like the idea since I am willing to get their info out directly into the hands of Vets without charging the business. A couple of businesses will be giving rewards cards (one of those will have a discount on top of that!), some just regular discounts. One place with good burgers will be givng out coupons here for a "buy one, get one" for Vets. We have a balloon boquet coming, one ice cream store is sending over ice cream. The best bakery in town has a wonderful Bavarian cream cheese cake they will be donating....

It is nice people like these that make me smile.

[fuzzymystic]

American Legion Auxiliary (http://legion-aux.org/ContactUs/StateDirectory/department.aspx? - broken link) This is the contact info for the American Legion Auxiliary in OK, and even if you just looked up the phone number and called a post near you, someone in there might be able to get the word out.

Also here is a link for the AMVETS there: Oklahoma- AMVETS Post Directory - AMVETS.ORG (http://www.amvets.org/membership/posts_oklahoma.html - broken link)

Good luck. It's too bad some people are so nasty.

[Ailin]

It sounds like someone is being hateful...Or maybe they are trying to sell a wheelchair on there? Who knows. If I was you I'd just keep trying.
I think what you're doing is great!

[foma]

You can also go to local establishments and ask them if you can put a flyer somewhere. A lot of places (I've seen them at Border's) have bulletin boards. You just need to get them approved by management. I've never done this before but I've seen various types of ads posted.

You can't totally blame Craigslist. I don't know who has the authority to flag items but sometimes it's not always easy to detect the legitimate posts from the frauds.

In any case, I think this is such a wonderful idea. I hope the wheelchairs all go to the right candidates!

[OneDayAttaTime]

Great ideas! I appreciate them all.