TownGate Navigators Creates 'Valentines for Vets'

MORENO VALLEY>> Riverside County has the 8th largest military-veteran population in the United States, including many veterans who are residents or patients at the VA Hospital at Loma Linda. Students at TownGate Elementary are working hard to see that some veterans have a special treat on Valentine’s Day by making them cards as part of the “Valentines for Vets" project. Valentines for Vets began in 1989 when the late newspaper columnist, Ann Landers, encouraged her readers to create special valentines for veterans in care facilities throughout Canada and the United States. Every year, Landers' special "Valentines for Vets" column asked her readers to remember the valiant sacrifices of their nations' Veterans by making them personal hand-crafted valentines. The effort is coordinated by Congressmen Rep. Mark Takano, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. His staff delivers the cards to the VA Hospital and other veteran-based organizations in the area.