DEAR ABBY: Operation Dear Abby, your annual call for letters to servicepersons stationed on foreign soil during the holidays, should be extended to include veterans in hospitals and nursing homes.
Although many of these veterans have family and friends to visit and write to them, others are alone. I volunteer a couple of days a week at a veterans home in Oregon. I drive their recreational bus for field trips and help with the needs of the veterans while we're on trips. However, there are many other needs volunteers could fill: reading to veterans, writing letters for them, or just spending a little time visiting with them.
If some of your readers would like to help and there are no nearby veteran facilities, the American Legion, the VFW or the library can provide an address to which they can send cards and letters. Veterans hospitals are located all over the United States.
Thank you for considering an extension to your Operation Dear Abby. -- BONNIE L. KENDALL, DALLESPORT, WASH.
DEAR BONNIE: That's a terrific idea. We owe our freedom to our veterans. But why stop with volunteering during the holidays? Volunteering 12 months a year -- if possible -- would be a meaningful gift to those who sacrificed so much for us.
Readers, our veterans are waiting and they need you. The time you give them will be much appreciated. You'll get more than you give by volunteering. I always have.