MIKE REUTHER/Sun-Gazette correspondent Members of the area's VFW Riders group worked on a new home for a Hughesville veteran.

Members of a local veterans group knew what they had to do when they learned a fellow vet needed a help hand.

Brian Wiant, the recipient of goodwill and generosity of the VFW Riders Group District 15-Pa., could not have been more thankful.

Standing on the porch of his donated trailer, he faced the gathering before him.

“I’d like to have a cookout for everybody who did this,” he said. “Thanks for everything.”

When the VFW Riders learned that Wiant, a Navy veteran, desperately needed a home, they worked together to make it happen.

After all, veteran outreach is what the group does.

“As a fellow veteran, I understand the struggles both mental and physical that they face,” Rodney Stahl, of Milton, said.

Stahl was among the veterans and others at the informal ceremony to watch Wiant accept the keys to his new home in Meadowbrook Park near Hughesville.

Joe Liversidge, Meadowbrook Park owner, said he was happy to donate the empty trailer that required major cleanup and repairs.

“I’m glad to give someone a nice home,” he said. “The real heroes of this are our veterans. They did a lot of work. You should have seen this place before.”

“Thanks to all,” Wiant said after Liversidge handed over the trailer’s keys to him.

Dan Schooover, chair of the Helping Hands Committee, noted that group members tirelessly worked the phones to find Wiant a home. In addition, volunteers spent more than 630 hours fixing up the trailer.

Ann Russell, VFW Riders resource officer, said the group had been trying to get Wiant a new home for a year.

Beyond the volunteer hours, donations included cash, a stove, and refrigerator.

“One of the nice things is he (Wiant) was able to bring his dog,” she said.

Russell noted that the VFW Riders are busy with projects that support veterans.

Last year alone, the group put in more than 8,000 volunteer hours.

“We’re off to a good start this year,” she said.

The types of outreaches include cleanup and yardwork for veterans, transportation needs, help in navigating veterans’ benefits, and much more.

Projects this year, she said, will include training VFW Riders in mental health, first aid, and crisis prevention; making and distributing emergency readiness kits to veteran households; and securing a handicapped accessible van for veterans.

“We connect them to resources,” Russell said.

Too many veterans, she and others feel, are forgotten.

The mission of VFW Riders is heartwarming but simple: No Veteran is left behind.