By Kate Hill

Staff Writer

On Dec. 3, Clear Path for Veterans in Chittenango celebrated Giving Tuesday by pledging to work to serve more than 30,000 veterans in 2020.

Created in 2012, Giving Tuesday is a movement to create an international day of charitable giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals and organizations to transform their communities and the world at large.

Clear Path is a non-profit veteran service organization that works to support and strengthen military members in their transition from military to civilian life.

The organization partners with local businesses and organizations to connect service members and their families to the resources they need, and to provide them with diverse programs and services focused on “restoring, reconnecting and integrating.”

According to Clear Path CEO Bill Smullen, the organization — which serves 23 counties — offers four essential programs: canine, culinary, wellness and peer support.

The canine program connects veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress (PTS), a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and/or military sexual trauma (MST) to canine companions in an effort to create a mutually beneficial bond.

“The canine program is extraordinarily important,” Smullen said. “We have five [dogs] in training right now . . . We get them at eight weeks and we train them for the better part of a year and then put them in a foster home to make sure they can live successfully with a family. At around the year and a half mark, we partner the dog with a veteran who has been identified as needing or wanting a service dog . . .”

The Clear Path Culinary Program staff and volunteers prepare a complimentary weekly lunch for veterans, military members and their immediate families fifty times a year.

According to Smullen, the “Wednesday Canteens” typically attract around 200 attendees.

“We not only serve them a healthy meal, but we also have classes and sessions where veterans and their families can come in and learn how to purchase food that is inexpensive, but nutritious,” Smullen said. “We also teach them how to prepare it and encourage them to spend time as a family enjoying great food.”

Clear Path also offers a multifaceted wellness program focused on addressing six types of wellness – physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual and occupational.

“We have a very strong and active wellness program . . .” Smullen said. “With the help of clinicians that we bring into Clear Path, [veterans and their families] can have everything from acupuncture to yoga to Reiki to a message.”

The peer support program provides personalized support for individuals in need of guidance and assistance achieving their goals and objectives.

Clear Path currently has four combat veterans, who are available to help veterans address various problems or needs.

According to Smullen, the peer mentors provide everything from rides to the supermarket and bags of food to assistance searching for jobs.

In 2019, Clear Path provided supportive programs and services to more than 30,000 military members, veterans, and their families and caregivers.

The organization hopes to extend its reach even further in the coming year by increasing the capacities of its current programs/services.

“Increasing capacity takes more money . . .” Smullen said. “The more money we have available to us, the more events, activities, programs and services we can provide in 2020 . . . If you want us to help others — which is what we are all about — you can [do so] by donating to Clear Path for Veterans . . . I take the time to write a donation letter back to each [contributor], as well as a hand-written note to tell them how much this means to us at Clear Path.”

According to Smullen, donations are accepted in a variety of forms including check, cash and credit card and in any denomination.

“Investing resources into the lives of the veteran population is a cause and a responsibility Clear Path for Veterans takes seriously,” Smullen said in a press release. Please join us in our efforts to reach even more veterans and their families in the year ahead. You can help us make a measurable and lasting difference.”

To learn more about Clear Path for Veterans, visit clearpath4vets.com/, email [email protected], or call 315-687-3300.

For more information about the Giving Tuesday movement, visit givingtuesday.org.