Post 516 and others working to help veteran and his wife stay in their home.
“Veterans helping veterans” is a slogan the members of Willie B. Hatcher American Legion Post 516 live by.
Members of the post in McDonough, Ga., along with Post 305 in Hampton and other volunteers, are working on renovating the home of 82-year-old Army veteran Atlas King and his wife in Hampton.
Post 516 Commander Alton Head said the renovations will include installing a new roof, central heat and air and insulation, lowering the ceilings, updating the kitchen and doing some landscaping.
“It’s almost a rebuilding,” Head said.
It’s not the first time the post has helped renovate a veteran’s home. Last year, post members and other volunteers renovated the home of 75-year-old Army veteran John Green in Barnesville, Ga.
Head said press coverage of that and similar work leads to more opportunities for the post to help others. “Most of the time when people are referred to us, they’ll say, ‘We saw where you helped out here, can you help us?’” he said.
He said that, when post members are working on a house, they’ll put a sign in the front yard that reads, “Veterans helping veterans.” It’s just one part of how Post 516 — the Department of Georgia’s Fourth District Post of the Year — is living up to the Legion’s four pillars.
And the efforts are being returned. Head said the Barnesville police chief is going to be installing the roof on the Kings’ house, and membership at Post 516 “is growing by leaps and bounds.”
“People want to get involved, especially veterans,” Head said.
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