T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Larry Tuttle, Rick Johnson, Mike Hanken and Bob Miller of the Marshalltown Combined Honor Guard pose for a photo in front of their bus Monday afternoon. Thanks to a $100 anonymous donation, the Honor Guard was able to feed eight local veterans during the recent VFW tenderloin meal, transporting six of them to the event and delivering to the other two.

The local VFW’s tenderloin meal is always one of the most anticipated nights of the year for Marshalltown area residents, but some veterans who live within the community struggle with transportation.

Thanks to a recent anonymous donation of $100, the Marshalltown Combined Honor Guard was able to pay for a total of eight veterans’ meals ($12 each) and used their bus to give six of them rides to the VFW, with the other two tenderloins delivered. Commander Bob Miller originally hoped to use the Veterans Affairs (VA) van that he already drives five days a month when he heard of individuals who might need a ride, but he was told it could only be taken for doctor’s visits and other essential tasks.

Miller reached out to a veteran who’s 45 years old, had a stroke and can only use one arm and asked him if he thought he would be able to get on the bus. As it turned out, he could.

“We picked up two veterans at Embers. We picked up one on Third and Linn Street. We picked up one on Third Avenue, and we picked up two veterans up at Odd Fellows (Apartments),” Miller said. “They had a (great) time, because I think a lot of them get pretty lonely… They’re stuck at home in the wintertime. They can’t go anywhere.”

Fresh off the success of the tenderloin meal, the Honor Guard is excited about the idea of providing more rides for veterans to attend veteran-centric events at places like the VFW and the American Legion, which will be hosting a soup supper in November, along with an upcoming tip night at Culver’s, and they will be accepting donations from anyone who wishes to help make it a reality.

To be clear, this will apply to veterans living within the Marshalltown community but not those at the Iowa Veterans Home, who already have their own transportation accommodations, and they plan to tailor it to veterans oriented events only.

The Honor Guard plans to cover the travel costs, and for now at least, the funds will only be used to pay for meals. Donations can be dropped off at the VFW Hall, which is located at 107 E. Meadow Ln., or PO Box 1204 in Marshalltown.

“If we did get a lot of donations, we could use it for gas too,” Miller said. “But they would be definitely used for the veterans, for the meal or the gas, and then if we have more than what we need, we’ll keep it in a separate account for that and use it next year.”

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.