‘They’re a Lifesaver’

Retired Employees Donate Sleeping Bags, Warm Clothes to Homeless Vets

Staff and volunteers with the Veterans Village of San Diego unload donated sleeping bags from two groups of retired County employees on Monday morning.

Six years ago, retired Sheriff’s Sgt. Rusty Burkett was mulling over what he could do to help others around the holidays.

His wife suggested doing something for the homeless.

Burkett, who is president of the 1,100-member Retired Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, suggested the idea at a member meeting. Burkett happens to be a Vietnam veteran, and many of the association’s members are vets too, he said.

Much of San Diego’s homeless population is also composed of veterans--an estimated 25 to 35 percent.  Members of Burkett’s group agreed to chip in and buy sleeping bags for homeless veterans through the nonprofit Veterans Village of San Diego.

On Monday, Burkett, along with his friend and former Vietnam vet Joe Hulst, and Denise Price, executive director of the Retired Employees of San Diego County, delivered this year’s bounty: 118 sleeping bags, boxes of underwear, socks, sweatshirts and other warm clothes, and toiletries. The items were valued at $1,500.

“Like the old saying, they’re the reason we’ve got the freedoms we have,” Burkett said of service members. “Any little thing we can do, that’s great.”

The 7,000-member Retired Employees of San Diego County, Inc. played an active role in the project this year, too, donating money and time, said Price.

“As public employees, we’re civic minded,” Price said. “We still want to help. We want to find ways to give back.”

The organizations planned to make another delivery in the coming days, after receiving a commitment for a $1,000 donation from Enterprise International, the parent company of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Price said.

Veterans Village Development Manager Rick Ochocki said the items are much needed by the nonprofit, which serves more than 2,000 military veterans throughout the county each year.

When you’re living on the street, sleeping bags are “your friend,” said a Veterans Village employee who said his name was “Twogood.” He said he used to be homeless and addicted to meth before finding his way to Veterans Village and getting clean and sober almost 10 years ago.

“They’re a lifesaver,” Twogood said of the sleeping bags and other items. “They’re a godsend.”

For more information about the Retired Employees of San Diego County, visit their website. For more information about the Retired Deputy Sheriffs' Association, email county_line@cox.net.