{"id":8331,"date":"2024-03-09T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8331"},"modified":"2024-03-09T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T19:30:00","slug":"utah-family-brings-special-gifts-to-veteran-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8331","title":{"rendered":"Utah family brings special gifts to Veteran patients"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-03-09T19:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>VA\u2019s National Salute to Veteran Patients week is observed annually during the week of Valentine\u2019s Day, a day of caring and sharing which underscores the salute\u2019s expression of honor and appreciation to inpatient and outpatient Veterans.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s observance for National Salute to Veteran Patients was held Feb. 11-17.<\/p>\n<p>There are many ways to show appreciation, such as sending cards, donating to support Veteran programs or becoming a volunteer in one of the many assignments VA has to offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/02\/Frog-certificate_r1.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u201cThe frog will keep you company when I am not with you.\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can schedule a visit to show your appreciation to hospitalized Veterans.<\/p>\n<p>One such visit occurred on Feb. 11 to kick off National Salute to Veteran Patients week at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/salt-lake-city-health-care\/\" rel=\"noopener\">George E. Wahlen VA<\/a> in Salt Lake City. Al Jensen and his family paid a visit to deliver a unique gift to Veterans\u2026 boxes of frogs. Not just any frog, but \u201cMy Pet Frog.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Created frogs as a reminder for people to smile<\/h2>\n<p>Jensen started creating these frogs as a reminder for people to smile. \u201cMy grandson Ren put a plastic frog on my car dashboard. I asked him why. He said, \u2018Grandpa, the frog will be your friend and keep you company when I am not with you.\u2019 He was absolutely right. The frog did keep me company. We thought it would be fun to offer frogs to others so they would have a magical frog friend to keep them company,\u201d Jensen said.<\/p>\n<p>Jensen and his family provided 40 frogs to Salt Lake City VA and handed several of them personally to Veterans.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about volunteering, visiting or supporting our Veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors, please visit the Center for Development &amp; Civic Engagement <a href=\"http:\/\/www.volunteer.va.gov\/\" rel=\"noopener\">website<\/a> to explore the many ways you can offer your time and talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/128992\/utah-family-special-gifts-to-veteran-patients\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My Pet Frog: Family brings special gifts during National Salute to Veteran Patients Week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Utah family brings special gifts to Veteran patients - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My Pet Frog: Family brings special gifts during National Salute to Veteran Patients Week.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8331\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Utah family brings special gifts to Veteran patients - 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