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Abington officials and volunteers for the Department of Veterans’ Services gather for a celebration after the town raised more than $84,000 for a new van to transport veterans and surviving spouses to medical appointments. (Photo courtesy Adam Gunn/town of Abington)
With the help of some retired veterans, dedicated garage mechanics, and generous residents, the town of Abington has built a network of volunteers and donors to expand the reach of its veterans’ services well beyond what the town could afford.
Over the past several years, Abington’s Veterans’ Services Office has recruited about 10 regular volunteers, allowing the two-person office to stretch its resources. According to Town Manager Michael Maresco, the dedication of the office’s employees and volunteers has inspired greater community support and generosity around veterans’ issues.
“The residents of Abington are extremely patriotic, [and] love and support our veterans and their families,” Maresco said. “These residents are drawn to participating at all levels to help our veterans because of the great communication that comes out of our Veterans’ Office.”
When Veterans’ Services Director Adam Gunn arrived almost six years ago, he started recruiting volunteers, cultivating relationships with residents and the business community, building support from town leaders and departments, and elevating the office’s work on social media and with online updates. In 2023, Abington formed a Veterans Advisory Council that helps drive veterans’ initiatives.
“You just find something they’re passionate about,” Gunn said. “We can give them fuel to be passionate about it, and we give them the credit, and they run with it, and they love it.”
The volunteers maintain veteran memorials, clean veterans’ graves, host a monthly veterans’ cable show called “Abington Veterans’ Muster,” carry out accounting and office administrative tasks, participate in event planning, and work on the Abington Hero Banner program that highlights veterans on poles in town. The volunteers also help the office clear through large collections of paper records.
“In most cities and towns across Massachusetts, there are humongous filing cabinets somewhere in veteran services that are just shoved in a corner because people don’t know what to do with them, and it costs money to have them scanned,” Gunn said. “So we’ve been able to use our volunteers to digitize those.”
Abington has been installing street sign toppers to honor Purple Heart recipients who were wounded or killed as a result of enemy action. Volunteers have researched town records and conducted family outreach to identify veterans who have received, or who qualify for, a Purple Heart, and more than 60 sign toppers have been placed on streets associated with those veterans.
Gunn recalled getting a call from a man who was driving home with his wife when she suddenly yelled for him to stop the car and back up. She had spotted her father’s Purple Heart street sign for the first time.
“She started crying right there in the car, and they called to thank us for that,” Gunn said. “That was pretty incredible.”
Abington has trained a volunteer to make website updates, and he has developed a web page for the Purple Heart recipients. Another veterans history project will have a volunteer interview veterans so they can share their stories.
Abington relies significantly on donations for veterans. Recently, it worked with Abington Bank and the Abington Rotary Club to raise more than $84,000 to purchase a wheelchair-accessible Chrysler Voyager to transport veterans and surviving spouses to medical appointments. At no cost, Abington-based Blue Collar Customs is covering the vehicle with a decorative wrap designed by students at the South Shore Regional Vocational Technical School, Gunn said. The town plans to unveil the vehicle later this month.
Abington still has an older van, donated a few years ago by a nearby town, that will also get a decorative wrap. The older van has had mechanical difficulties, Gunn said, but a local mechanic has stepped up to service it for free. The mechanic’s garage, Abington Sunoco, also maintains the cars of veterans and their surviving spouses for free or at discounted rates.
Lisa McGovern, Abington’s veterans’ benefits administrator, said the office’s work is a reflection of the community.
“There’s a clear love for veterans in Abington,” McGovern said.