Reader pays for veterans office phone line

BY CHRIS MAYHEW | COMMUNITY RECORDER STAFF WRITER 

Maj. (USA Ret.) Ron Allari

ALEXANDRIA - Callers can leave a phone message at Alexandria's new veterans assistance office 24 hours a day thanks to an anonymous donation.

A reader of The Alexandria Recorder donated $200 after seeing an article about the work volunteer Ron Allari, of Alexandria, is performing in a new office at the Calvin A. Perry Community Center. The city recently allowed Allari to use a room in the building for $1 a year to help local veterans with benefits.

The donation paid for the purchase and installation of a phone with an answering machine.

"(The donor) called me and said 'what do you need?'" Allari said.

He was about 60-years-old, but wished to remain anonymous.

"What is amazing is the donor had never served in the military," said Mark See, commander of VFW Post 3205 in Alexandria.

Allari, a Vietnam veteran who retired after 21 years in the Army as a major, informs veterans of benefits they're entitled to, and helps them fill out paperwork.

It's an unpaid volunteer position, and veterans previously had to track down his personal cell phone number through local veterans' groups.

More and more veterans are meeting with him after returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past couple of years, he said.

He's helped with everything from treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to transitioning back into a civilian job.

"A lot of them just don't understand what the benefits are," Allari said.

***Reprinted with Permission of the Community Press – Alexandria Recorder***