Many of the residents at the Iowa Veterans Home (IVH) are wheelchair bound as a result of their service, making mobility accommodations and lifts to help them get where they need to go on the campus a necessity. On Friday morning, representatives from several groups across the state gathered at the ramp connecting the Dack Care Facility to the Malloy building for a ribbon cutting to celebrate their successful $26,750 private fundraising campaign to purchase a new lift.

Fred Oster, the commander of American Legion Post 739 based out of IVH and comprised primarily of residents and employees, told the small crowd gathered for the event that the project had been a long time coming, and David Haines, the facility bureau chief at IVH, explained that the old lift in the same location was 15 to 20 years old and in need of replacement.

“I am so excited about this,” he said. “The work went out, and you guys delivered. I was very taken aback. It’s like ‘Wow, we’re actually getting the donated funds to take care of this lift specifically for our residents who have a hard time traversing up the ramp.’ But also, it does help our staff too.”

Luckily, the contractor that installed the original lift is still in business and had some of the documentation on file, and they were excited to partner with IVH as leadership figured out the specifications and what the process of tearing out the old one would look like.

“I tell you what, the final product is what we have today. It’s very, very smooth,” Haines said before noting that the old lift was showing signs of its age. “Now, it’s nice and smooth to get up there to this upper level. As far as being the facility bureau chief for the Iowa Veterans Home, this is one of those things that I’m very proud to be able to do to make sure our residents are able to traverse from the Dack to the Malloy building a lot easier, now. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.”

Kim Bratland, IVH’s clinical support director, echoed Haines’s comments as she took the microphone.

“It’s so appreciated with all the different recreation activities and events that we have going on in different buildings,” she said. “It makes it so much easier for them to be able to independently get their on their own where they would have a hard time using the ramp. So, it’s so huge. I can’t say enough, and our residents will be able to enjoy it for years to come and getting around easier. With the old one, like Dave said, it was pretty old, and we had a lot of times where it would break down. It was down again, it was down again. I just want to thank you so much.”

The following organizations contributed funds toward the project: Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 20, Legion Post 739 through the American Legion Foundation Grant Department of Iowa, American Legion Auxiliary 3rd District President’s Project, Ruffneck Resistance Region 6 and Pennies for Heroes.

Bobby Jackson from Pennies for Heroes, which is a project of the American Legion Post 562 in Cumming, also spoke briefly and credited IVH Volunteer Services Coordinator Laurel Degelau for doing a great job on fundraising projects. Before the ribbon cutting, Oster commented that the lift project received unanimous support from Post 739 leadership, and Legion Auxiliary 3rd District President Veronica Daniel expressed her happiness and appreciation for Degelau’s assistance in securing the necessary funds.

Once the cutting was complete, Post 739 Vice Commander Jacob Knapp, a wheelchair bound veteran, took the first official test ride on the lift and enjoyed a smooth and easy ride.

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