Almost every seat was taken on May 9 at the American Legion Post 212 monthly free breakfast for Veterans. Breakfast was again delicious and prepared for the Veterans by Maynardville Food City.

In addition to the monthly breakfasts on the second Saturday of the month, a free dinner is provided on the first Monday of every month. The members of Post 212 really appreciate all the planning and work that the Veteran Volunteers put into the First Monday dinners. The unofficial leader of this Volunteer crew is Debbie Boeck. The Veterans presented her with a plaque to thank her and all the cooks, chefs, and servers for their wonderful monthly dinners.

The guest speaker for this breakfast was Yvone Coffey with Synergy HomeCare. Yvonne and her husband, Chris Ball, live in Halls. Both Chris and Yvonne’s fathers are Veterans. Her father required home care. She wanted him to be as independent as possible, but he did need some non-medical assistance. The experience of finding quality home care for him motivated Yvonne to invest in owning a non-medical home care business.

Yvonne stated that she did not want to be just a caregiving service but wanted to focus on relationship-building and on any assistance needed at any time. A Veteran or the surviving spouse of a Veteran may qualify for home care services at no charge. “Home care” may be something as simple as companionship, reading aloud, or watching movies. Or it might include light housekeeping, fall prevention, grooming and hygiene, grocery shopping, pet care, transportation to social activities or doctor appointments, care of houseplants, family respite, dementia care, or dozens of other activities. Do you have questions about home care in general or Synergy specifically? Feel free to give Synergy a call at 865-474-9304. They are happy to answer any questions you may have.

As of 2021, the National Library of Medicine reported that roughly only half of the Veteran population is enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration. This means that Veterans and their families are not receiving the VA benefits that they have earned. Synergy may be able to help. Synergy Homecare is committed to working with Veterans.

Synergy also accepts several health insurance plans.

The next Veteran Breakfast is scheduled for Saturday, June 13, at 8:00 am at the American Legion on Veterans St, Maynardville.