A clinic appointment can be on the calendar long before a veteran knows how they’ll get there. DAV’s Transportation Network offers free rides to and from VA medical facilities for injured and ill veterans where volunteers are available. A hospital service coordinator can tell you whether there’s a vehicle near you and how to request a ride. DAV Transportation Network

It is one of the quietest, kindest ways a community can say thank you. Here at Corona Shoutouts, we appreciate everything veterans have done for us, and so do the neighbors who keep telling us how much they want to give back. A dependable ride to a doctor’s visit is a gift that a veteran can feel the very same day.

A network built by volunteers

DAV says it operates a fleet of vehicles around the country, with volunteer drivers serving more than 247 VA locations. Since the program began in 1987, according to DAV, its departments and chapters have donated 4,183 vehicles and Ford Motor Co. has donated 274 more, at a cost of more than $104 million. Every one of those vans depends on someone willing to get behind the wheel.

DAV’s driver page puts it simply: veterans traveled around the globe to protect our freedoms, and it’s only right that we return their dedication. One volunteer quoted there, Jim Martin of Spokane, Washington, called driving veterans “my way of saying thank you.” DAV volunteer driver stories

What keeps a volunteer coming back

When VA Poplar Bluff profiled Larry Cochran, the Navy veteran had spent more than 20 years volunteering as a DAV driver. Cochran had served on active duty, including in Vietnam, and later worked in aircraft manufacturing. He told the VA that he liked driving and helping people. He also saw himself in the passengers he served: “Someday, I might need a ride myself.” VA’s profile of Larry Cochran

The numbers in that 2023 profile are remarkable. Cochran began driving in 2002. By the end of 2022, he estimated he had put in more than 6,000 hours, transported more than 1,200 individual veterans, and driven a little over 175,000 miles. At 80, he said he planned to keep going as long as he could. “Sometimes we are up before daylight to get the van ready to go, but it’s all worth it,” he told the VA. One veteran recently told him, “You guys have saved my life. I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for you getting me to my appointments.”

His coordinator noticed, too. Scott Smith, the DAV hospital service coordinator at the VA medical center that serves Cochran’s area, told the VA that Cochran takes a leadership role: “If I have a last-minute request, I call Larry. He finds an available driver to make it happen.” Cochran said he is the only one left of the original group of drivers who signed up in 2002, “but I’m going to do it for a while yet.”

The person scheduling a ride needs to plan for both ends of the appointment. For the outbound trip, that means knowing where to meet and when to be ready. For the return, it means knowing whom to call if the visit runs long. Sorting out those details ahead of time can take pressure off the veteran and anyone helping them get to the clinic.

How to request a ride

Find your nearest hospital service coordinator in the DAV directory. Have the appointment date and time, the clinic name, and the pickup location handy. Ask how far in advance to request a ride, whether the route covers your address, and what the coordinator needs to know about mobility equipment or a companion. DAV says its volunteers can’t cover every community, so it’s worth asking early. Find a DAV transportation coordinator

If the coordinator can’t arrange a ride, ask the clinic about other transportation options in your area. For a family member or friend helping someone make those calls, it can be useful to write down the pickup instructions and leave them where the veteran can find them on the day.

Closer to home

For veterans in our area, the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System lists health clinic locations across the Inland Empire, including one on Teller Street right here in Corona, along with clinics in Murrieta, Rancho Cucamonga, Hemet, and Redlands, and the main hospital in Loma Linda. Knowing which location an appointment is at is the first detail a ride coordinator will need. VA Loma Linda locations

VA Loma Linda also lists volunteer transportation network drivers among its volunteer roles, alongside greeters, patient escorts, and courtesy cart drivers. Its Center for Development and Civic Engagement lists monthly volunteer orientation sessions on the second Thursday of the month at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Loma Linda. Check the official page for current details before you go. Volunteer or donate at VA Loma Linda

How to get behind the wheel

Start with the DAV driver page and ask your local coordinator which days or routes could use help. If you can regularly offer a particular morning, say so when you call. Readers who want to help in another way can look at DAV’s local volunteer opportunities or donate. Volunteer as a driver · Find other DAV volunteer roles · Donate to DAV

You don’t have to be a veteran to drive. Another volunteer quoted by DAV, Patty Davis, a transportation coordinator in Milwaukee, said she didn’t serve but wanted a way to recognize the sacrifices of those who did, and that she gets more from those conversations than she gives. Retirees, flexible-schedule workers, and anyone who simply enjoys a good conversation on the road can make a real difference.

A thank-you that shows up on time

A ride may seem like a small thing, but for a veteran without one, it can decide whether an appointment happens at all. If you have a free morning, a steady hand on the wheel, and a heart for the people who served, consider calling a coordinator this Veterans Day. And if you know a veteran who needs a ride, help them make that first call.

To every veteran in Corona and the surrounding communities: thank you for everything you have done for us. We hope you always have a friendly face waiting at the curb. For more ideas, see our guide, How to Honor Veterans on Veterans Day and All Year Long, and How to Help a Veteran This Veterans Day.