Focus Area
Volunteer with Veterans and Military Families in Central Oregon
Matching organizations, in a different order on every visit
The Redmond chapter of the Oregon Band of Brothers brings together veterans of every era, current service members, and their families for regular gatherings, friendship, and mutual support, and helps local veterans in need.
Veterans, current service members, and their spouses and close family join the chapter's weekly meetings and help with its service work: the Flag Line honor guard at veterans' funerals and memorial ceremonies, fundraising to assist veterans in need, and support for Honor Flight and other veterans' organizations. There are no dues. Non-veterans who help local veterans can be welcomed as associates.
Disabled American Veterans – Bend Chapter 14
also known as DAV Bend #14, Disabled American Veterans
The Bend chapter of Disabled American Veterans, the national organization of veterans helping veterans. Chapter 14 supports disabled veterans and their families in Central Oregon with help navigating VA benefits, rides to medical care, fellowship, and advocacy, and its members are active in local veterans events and ceremonies.
Volunteer drivers take veterans to VA medical appointments through DAV's transportation network (you don't need to be a veteran; a physical and background check are required). Members and supporters also help veterans navigate their benefits, staff veterans events, and take part in community observances like the Bend Veterans Day Parade.
Bend nonprofit that built and maintains the Bend Heroes Memorial in Brooks Park, honoring Bend's fallen veterans from World War I to today, and leads the Parade of Flags on patriotic holidays. It has also championed nine border-to-border veterans memorial highways across Oregon through the state legislature.
On Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, and 9/11, volunteers help install the Parade of Flags, about 275 flags flown over the U.S. Capitol and stitched with veterans' names, along Veterans Memorial Bridge and downtown Bend in the early morning, then take them down in the afternoon. Scouts, JROTC cadets, school teams, families, and anyone else are welcome to help.
The Bend chapter is where the Oregon Band of Brothers began in 2006, when a few World War II veterans started meeting for coffee. Today its weekly gatherings draw veterans of every era, along with current service members and their families, for friendship, camaraderie, and mutual support. The chapter raises funds for veterans in need and provides the Flag Line honor guard at funerals and memorial observances.
Veterans, current service members, and their spouses and close family join the chapter's weekly meetings and help with its service work: the Flag Line honor guard at veterans' funerals and memorial ceremonies, fundraising to assist veterans in need, and support for Honor Flight and other veterans' organizations. There are no dues. Non-veterans who help local veterans can be welcomed as associates.
All-volunteer Central Oregon group that has sent care packages to local service members deployed overseas or stationed at hardship posts since 2003. Volunteers pack boxes monthly at the Bend VFW post, filling them with donated snacks, hygiene items, cards, and letters so troops know their hometown is thinking of them. Families can sign up a service member with ties to Central Oregon.
Volunteers gather once a month to pack and address care packages for Central Oregon service members deployed or stationed far from home. Anyone can write cards and notes to include, and groups and businesses can run drives for snacks, hygiene items, and other comforts from home.
The Sisters chapter of the Oregon Band of Brothers brings together veterans of every era, current service members, and their families in Sisters Country for regular gatherings, friendship, and mutual support, and helps local veterans in need.
Veterans, current service members, and their spouses and close family join the chapter's weekly meetings and help with its service work: the Flag Line honor guard at veterans' funerals and memorial ceremonies, fundraising to assist veterans in need, and support for Honor Flight and other veterans' organizations. There are no dues. Non-veterans who help local veterans can be welcomed as associates.
American Legion Ray Johnson Post 44 is Redmond's American Legion post, supporting local veterans alongside its Auxiliary Unit 44. The post hosts dinners and gatherings at its hall on SW 8th Street and joins VFW Post 4108 for Memorial Day ceremonies at Redmond Memorial Cemetery.
Veterans with honorable service can join the post, and spouses and family members can join Auxiliary Unit 44. Members and Auxiliary volunteers help put on post dinners and events, take part in Memorial Day ceremonies and honor guard duties, and support fellow veterans. Call or stop by the post to get connected.
The Prineville chapter of the Oregon Band of Brothers brings together veterans of every era, current service members, and their families in Crook County for regular gatherings, friendship, and mutual support, and helps local veterans in need.
Veterans, current service members, and their spouses and close family join the chapter's weekly meetings and help with its service work: the Flag Line honor guard at veterans' funerals and memorial ceremonies, fundraising to assist veterans in need, and support for Honor Flight and other veterans' organizations. There are no dues. Non-veterans who help local veterans can be welcomed as associates.
Battle Buddies of Central Oregon works to prevent veteran and first responder suicide through canine companionship and dog training. Founded in Prineville in 2013 by Kristina Olson and run entirely by volunteers, it provides support dogs and training at no cost to honorably discharged veterans and first responders living with PTSD or depression, using training itself as therapy with a network of partner trainers.
Battle Buddies is all-volunteer. Dog trainers and experienced handlers help train support dogs with their veterans, and other volunteers help with fundraising, events, and outreach to veterans and first responders. Its website is currently offline, so reach out by email at bbco@battlebuddiesco.org or call 541-390-7587.
Central Oregon Veteran & Community Outreach, Inc.
also known as COVO, Central Oregon Veterans Outreach
Central Oregon Veterans & Community Outreach (COVO) was founded in 2005 by members of the Bend-area chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America, who refused to let fellow veterans end up without housing, jobs, or dignity. Today it serves veterans and non-veterans experiencing homelessness with weekly camp outreach, a walk-in Outreach Center, a mobile medical clinic, help with VA benefits and housing programs, and transitional housing.
Volunteers are the backbone of COVO's outreach: each week crews visit camps around Bend delivering food, water, propane, camping gear, and clothing, and picking up bagged trash to keep camps clean. Others staff the walk-in Outreach Center, sort and distribute donations, support the mobile medical van (medical professionals welcome), and help at events. Groups can run supply drives.
VFW Post 4108
also known as Deschutes Post 4108
VFW Post 4108 is Redmond's Veterans of Foreign Wars post, supporting military veterans and their families. Its hall on Veterans Way, home to one of the largest hardwood dance floors east of the Cascades, is open to the community for meals, dances, and events, and the post joins American Legion Post 44 for Memorial Day ceremonies at Redmond Memorial Cemetery. The post has an Auxiliary and shares its home with the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
Veterans with qualifying overseas service can join the post, and their family members can join the VFW Auxiliary. Members and Auxiliary volunteers help run the post's meals, dances, and community events, take part in Memorial Day ceremonies honoring local veterans, and support fellow veterans and their families. Call or stop by the post to get connected.
The La Pine chapter of the Oregon Band of Brothers brings together veterans of every era, current service members, and their families in south Deschutes County for regular gatherings, friendship, and mutual support, and helps local veterans in need.
Veterans, current service members, and their spouses and close family join the chapter's weekly meetings and help with its service work: the Flag Line honor guard at veterans' funerals and memorial ceremonies, fundraising to assist veterans in need, and support for Honor Flight and other veterans' organizations. There are no dues. Non-veterans who help local veterans can be welcomed as associates.
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