Vans for vets

Brandon resident finds fulfillment volunteering to drive fellow vets

 

Jerry Kerkhove always wanted to volunteer, and as an Army vet, driving vans for veterans seemed like a logical way to do it.

Kerkhove is one of several local volunteers who chauffers veterans from Helping Hands in Brandon to appointments at the VA Hospital in Sioux Falls. 

The mode of transport is DAV (Disabled American Veterans) vans, which Kerkhove recently helped transport to South Dakota from Cold Springs, Ky. The VA Hospital owns and maintains the DAV vans – technically, five-passenger Ford Plex SUVs.

The vans transport Helping Hands vets to the VA Hospital five days a week. Kerkhove drives on Tuesdays. 

 “It’s an interesting program,” Kerkhove said. “Some people I bring in love to talk about their military experiences. I hear a lot of funny stories. I hear a lot of sad stories.”

Kerkhove’s been on the receiving end of stories for two years. He started driving vets from Helping Hands to the VA Hospital in May of 2015. The Brandon assisted living center has more than 40 veteran residents. 

“It’s a great opportunity for vets to get to their appointments if they don’t have another option,” said Kari Nielsen, transportation coordinator at Helping Hands. It’s convenient and saves money, she said. 

Kerkhove, who served in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971, often makes multiple trips from Helping Hands to the VA Hospital on Tuesday mornings. One way is about 25 minutes, he said. He often sits in the VA waiting room while his passengers are in appointments. It averages five hours a week.  

“I only drive half a day – that’s nothing. So many people could do something, give half a day once a week to help out,” Kerkhove said. “I don’t think people realize how rewarding it is. I know I didn’t until I started volunteering.”

He said he’s wanted to volunteer ever since he had major surgery 20 years ago in Denver.

“I saw volunteers doing these little things that made life so much simpler, like tying your hospital gown in the back for you,” Kerkhove said. “I just thought when I retire I want to do something like this.”

He said that from his perspective, there’s always a need for more helping hands. 

“Most volunteers are retired. As they’re getting older, they need to be replaced,” he said.

Kerkhove grew up in Brandon and graduated from Brandon Valley High School in 1965. After living in Denver, Colo., for 43 years, where he worked as a CPA, he moved back to Brandon in 2013. In 2015 he began driving the DAV vans for the VA and Helping Hands.

“It’s my little way of helping out,” Kerkhove said. “There are a lot of ways people can volunteer and a lot of places they can give time and use their talents. I think they will find the benefit is as great, if not greater, than what they’ve given to someone else.”