By LINDA CHION KENNEY
With a life in the military cut short because of injury, Mike O’Dell of Riverview said he found a way out of floundering by embracing a mission of home front service, which today has evolved into Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans, a nonprofit that helps with emergency needs.
Set for its golf tournament fundraiser Oct. 1, at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club in Riverview, O’Dell said the nonprofit’s mission, in part to provide timely, temporary emergency assistance to veterans as a last resort, is even more imperative given the tough challenges of the day.
“With what’s going on in our economy, who knows what’s going to happen,” O’Dell said, noting in particular the precedent-setting rent increases in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and inflationary pressures, which, in one case, saw a veteran’s rent rise $700 per month.
“The landlord said if they didn’t like it, and they couldn’t pay it, the next person could, so they should move on,” O’Dell said. “It’s bad out there right now. We help with furniture and household goods, and our warehouse is full because we can’t get veterans off the streets and into apartments.”
Indeed, that’s just one of the dilemmas facing veterans today, defined in the code of federal regulations as people who serve in the active military, naval or air service and who were discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.
For O’Dell, his medical discharge came early, just under two years after he enlisted in 1971 as a 17-year-old high school graduate in his hometown of Cold Spring, N.Y., following a training accident that crushed his knees.
“I come from a big family of people serving, and I’ve always had an emptiness about me because I wasn’t able to retire from the military,” O’Dell said. “That was my plan when I went into the service, to serve a long time. Once I was discharged, I floundered a bit, not knowing what my purpose was. When I got involved with helping veterans, I knew what my mission was, and I’ve been doing it now for more than 20 years.”
Working with various veteran groups throughout the years, O’Dell said he often was called upon at the 12th hour to secure emergency aid of one sort of another for a veteran in need.
“I finally figured out it would be a lot easier to start my own nonprofit, so that I could go around and ask people and organizations for help, so that when we get those emergency calls, we can write a check or do whatever it takes to help veterans with their immediate needs,” O’Dell said. “We have one simple sheet of paper that needs to be filled out, and more than likely we’ll be able to help that same day.”
With him in the mission to support local veteran programs and to provide veterans in need with necessary utility, transportation, food and clothing needs are nine additional board members, including veteran Ronald “R.J.” Vaughan of Kings Point in Sun City Center, who serves as the nonprofit’s treasurer. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1997 after 20 years of service, then again after 22 years as a computer engineer contractor at U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
Vaughan said he met O’Dell when the two volunteered with a local chapter of Rolling Thunder, now folded, which worked to raise POW/MIA awareness. According to Vaughan, who keeps track of the caseload for Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans, the nonprofit helped 34 veterans in 2020 and 56 veterans in 2021.
“We put one homeless veteran on a bus to Jacksonville so he could attend VA rehabilitation training,” Vaughan said. “We had a lady who had no electricity, no water, so we got that turned back on for her. And we had one family with four children, and they only had room in the car for three kids with seatbelts. We donated a vehicle so they were able to go places now with the whole family.”
As for what draws him to the mission of veteran service, which includes bridging the gap between veterans and federal, state and county veteran programs, Vaughan said it’s simply a continuation of a soldier’s mindset.
“When you serve, you become tight with other soldiers because you’re covering their backs and they’re covering yours,” Vaughan said. “The same holds true for veterans today. We get a lot of thanks from the veterans we help. They’re very grateful that they can keep going because we help them.”
Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans Photo
From left, Tony Williams, Jim Fletcher, Joe Battle, Mike O’Dell and Vince Cardella at the 2021 Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans golf tournament. O’Dell is the nonprofit’s founder, serving on the board with Cardella, Fletcher and seven others. Williams is with Veterans Counseling Veterans, and Battle is retired director of James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital.
To fulfill its mission, Hillsborough County Veterans Helping Veterans, driven by an all-volunteer board of directors and no paid staff, depends on one-time and scheduled donations from individuals, businesses and groups alike. The annual golf tournament, now in its seventh year, is the nonprofit’s signature fundraiser, set this year for 144 golfers and an 8:15 a.m. shotgun start at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club, at 13050 Summerfield Blvd. The event includes an awards ceremony and lunch supplied by East Coast Pizza of Riverview. Medal of Honor sponsor is Pop a Beer Bar & Grill in Tampa. Registrations, sponsorships, donations and gift basket items are welcome. For more, visit www.hcveteranshelpingveterans.org or call 813-450-9082.
