LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the weather changes, disabled and homeless veterans need coats, scarves, sweaters, and blankets to keep warm.
USA Cares and the Kentucky Opera are teaming up to make sure our local heroes are taken care of this winter by collecting these items in a donation drive through Veterans Day.
Every week, USA Cares gets about 300 requests for help from veterans, whether it’s to help them find a warm place to stay, pay their bills or provide for their families.
Those are things they deal with daily but this donation drive is how you can help do what’s right.
“It’s very important to us that we support them. The weather’s getting cold, the temperature’s dropping and it seems like it happened overnight so there’s a lot of people unprepared for it,” said Aubrey Gonzalez, USA Cares communications manager.
So far, they’ve received bags full of pants and hoodies. The hope is that as you get ready for winter, you’ll make sure local veterans are also prepared.
“People want to help. You see homeless people on the streets and you want to help and you don’t really know how and this is a great way to know that you are helping someone. You won’t see that person but you know that it is going to be filtered to them,” said Aubrey Baker of the Kentucky Opera.
If you want to donate, here are the drop off locations:
- USA Cares National Headquarters: 11760 Commonwealth Drive, Louisville, KY 40299
- The Frazier History Museum: 829 W Main St, Louisville, KY 40202
- Bourbons Bistro: 2255 Frankfort Ave, Louisville, KY 40206
- Republic Bank: 3811 Ruckriegel Pkwy, Louisville, KY 40299
- Republic Bank: 10100 Brookridge Village Blvd, Louisville, KY 40291
- Republic Bank: 11330 Main St, Louisville, KY 40243
- Sullivan University - Main Campus: 3101 Bardstown Rd, Louisville, KY 40205
- Sullivan University College of Nursing: 4000 Dupont Cir, Louisville, KY 40207
- Sullivan University College of Technology & Design: 3901 Atkinson Square Dr, Louisville, KY 40218
In addition to the donation drive, the Kentucky Opera is using their stage to start a conversation about the experiences of local combat veterans through their production of "Glory Denied". The opera will have two performances on Nov. 8 and 10.
“The performances over Veteran’s Day weekend will be a unique way to amplify the stories of the brave service members, veterans and military families who have made selfless sacrifices for our country - the very individuals that USA Cares is dedicated to helping,” said Trace Chesser, USA Cares President and CEO.
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