We were very fortunate last week when OG--E and Stephanie Corder of the United Way of Central Oklahoma donated four laptop computers to Veterans' Corner. These will be used to file the claims for our veterans and their families.

Mr. Mark Hylton with Office Depot in Norman donated a new copier to Veterans' Corner. A special thank you goes out to OG--E, Office Depot and the United Way.

If I can make these old fingers move a little quicker, maybe we can speed up our processing time on Thursdays. Rex Floyd also made a donation to our benevolence fund with the proceeds from his RV garage sale. We appreciate all of the support we receive from our community in our mission to help those veterans who need it the most. We were able to use more than $1,500 last week for food, rents and medical expenses from this fund.

Last Thursday at the Goldsby Community Center we were able to help more than 130 men and women with their claims and questions about VA benefits. The sign-in time seems to be getting earlier each week for most of us. I try to be ready to start by 4 a.m. and there are usually 50 or so already waiting on us. We have been lucky the last few weeks and have not had to turn anyone away.

I received an e-mail today that said the Legion in Muskogee had not heard of us so maybe that's the reason we have not had to turn anyone away lately. We send all of our claims through the VFW or the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs. All of the service organizations are very knowledgeable at the VA regional office in Muskogee. Your claim should be important to you and we want every benefit that you are eligible for to be approved. If you have not spent a few hours with us to see what goes on in our community stop by early one Thursday.

I believe that all of us who volunteer out here meet some of the greatest men and women in our great state. I wish that you could see the difference that our helpers make in the lives of so many of our neighbors. Many of these men and women are near the poverty level when they come to us. Being able to double or triple their income is a wonderful feeling for all of us. One of my guys last week told me that it looks like he will have new neighbors after being approved for $36,000 per year from the VA. If you would like to become a Veterans' Corner advocate, stop in and let's help someone.

For all your questions and assistance about veterans' benefits we are at the Goldsby Community Center each Thursday with sign-in at 4:45 a.m. We usually stop signing people in by 7:30 a.m. or when we reach 120 or so. Be there early for us to help you with your claim. We do our best to process each one in a timely manner but be prepared to stay awhile and please be patient. Take time to visit our Web address at veteranscorner.org.

Semper Fi.

Dale K. Graham is service officer for VFW Post 4890. He can be reached at 550-8806 or kdgraham@windstream.net.