Supporting our veterans at home is the best way celebrate their contributions.
Serving in the armed forces during war time is the greatest sacrifice you can make for your country. The price paid by all of these individuals while in the combat arena can be well imagined, but it’s the return home that’s hard to understand unless you’ve been through it. Veterans can look forward to high rates of unemployment, divorce, social isolation, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicide. Furthermore, soldiers have a singular purpose in war, and that creates a special bond. However, that sense of being part of a community can be lost when they come home.
Veterans know what it’s like to make the adjustment, and so many of them take it on as their mission to help their former comrades in arms. One in particular, John Mahshie, a disabled Air Force veteran, has established the Veteran’s Healing Farm in Hendersonville, N.C. It is literally a farm, but it’s more than just about growing produce. It’s an environment where veterans work together to contribute to their community — much of what is grown is donated to veterans and their families, and to the local VA hospital or homeless shelters. As John puts it, “Donating fresh produce to veterans is less about the vegetables, and more about a message of love and respect.”
John Mahshie assisting a patron
