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Pin-Ups For Vets On A Mission to Visit Ill Vets In Every State
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Calendar model and CEO of the award-winning "Pin-Ups For Vets" nonprofit organization is seeking a sponsor that will help the charity to complete its very successful visits to ill and injured Vets in 26 more states. Gina Elise, granddaughter of a WWII Army Veteran, is on a mission to make personal visits and to deliver appreciation gifts and words of gratitude to America's Veterans in all 50 states. So far, the nonprofit's volunteers have been able to make visits to hospitalized Veterans in 24 states, but the organization needs help from a corporate sponsor to complete the next half of the VA hospital tour.
"I have seen first-hand how important these personal visits are to our hospitalized Veterans who are often dealing with painful recoveries from war injuries and chronic illnesses. These visits from the "Pin-Ups For Vets" 1940's-style volunteer calendar girls, bearing salutes, smiles, and gifts of appreciation donated by the nonprofit's supporters, help the hospitalized Veterans by taking their mind off of their illness or injury, at least for a short time. These personal visits to our Veterans dealing with amputations, burns, surgery, PTSD, and chronic illnessness have provided a great morale boost and a way to let them know that we have not forgotten about them, as they lie in their hospital beds," says Elise.
Many letters of thanks arrive at the "Pin-Ups For Vets" organization from the Volunteer Services officers or the Public Affair officers at each VA Hospital visited. These letters attest to the great morale boost that the Veterans receive after a personal bedside visit from calendar model Gina Elise and her volunteer pin-up girls bearing surprise "Pin-Ups For Vets" calendars and "Kiss A Vet" T-shirts. The letters are posted on the "Appreciation" page of the "Pin-Ups For Vets" website at http://www.PinUpsForVets.com A recent letter to Gina Elise from the Oklahoma VA Hospital's Chief of Voluntary Service reads, "Your visit was simply the best visit I have been a part of since my beginning as Voluntary Services Chief." The posted letters, one after the other, attest to the positive effects of these surprise visits by the "Pin-Ups For Vets" volunteers.
Gina Elise has witnessed very emotional moments during her thousands of visits to ill and injured Veterans across the U.S. One of her most memorable visits was to a Veteran who had suffered a traumatic brain injury and had not spoken in a month. He spoke his first words again, as Calendar Girl Gina Elise visited him at his bedside to thank him for his service and to deliver a gift of appreciation. "You just never know what a little human to human contact can do in the hospital wards," exclaims Elise, who has also seen Veterans reduced to tears for being remembered for their long ago service and Veterans who have reached up out of wheel chairs to get hugs from Elise.
Elise says that she has visited Veterans from ages 19 years old to 102 years old, and that these visits have changed her forever. "The inner strength they possess when dealing with illness and injury is amazing," says Elise who has seen Veterans complain very little, even after dealing with illness and injury that most people could never imagine.
Gina Elise, who has been dubbed by America's deployed troops as "the Betty Grable of a new generation" and "the calendar angel", has also been honored by Oprah Winfrey, the California Jaycees Foundation and Jr. Chamber of Commerce, and the Los Angeles Business Journal. She is determined to complete the "Pin-Ups For Vets" 50-state VA Hospital Tour and would like to name the tour after a corporate sponsor who would help to fund the tour to the next 26 states. " I would be thrilled to talk about our sponsor during the many media interviews I do on radio, on TV, and in the newspapers across the U.S.," says Elise. "I would also be very interested to talk to corporations or community groups who would consider sponsoring just one hospital visit, that also includes purchasing the appreciation gifts for our ill and injured Veterans in a state of their choice," adds Elise.
For corporations who pride themselves on being supportive of our Nation's Veterans and Troops and are considering sponsoring the VA Hospital Tour, Elise suggests that they can visit the "Gina's Visits" page on the Pin-Ups For Vets website ( www.PinUpsForVets.com) and click on each state's stars to see photos from the previous hospital visits. Interested sponsors can contact "Pin-Ups For Vets" Founder and CEO Gina Elise at : gina@pinupsforvets.com.
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