EXCHANGE: Center gives veterans a place to reflect

EFFINGHAM, Ill. (AP) - With help of the community, Tom Caldwell wants to give veterans a place to come to terms with civilian life.

That desire led Caldwell, interim director of the Collegiate Veterans Alliance at Lake Land College, to start work on a place where veterans can leave behind their turbulent military past and return to normalcy.

A Gulf War veteran, Caldwell said he wanted to avoid making the site a memorial for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in war, but rather a place for those who’ve come home to find peace as they return to non-enlisted life.

“They’re dealing with a lot of invisible issues,” he said. “It’s nice to give them an opportunity to relax and ease back into things here.”

Starting in February, Caldwell began work with volunteers on a peaceful area behind the center. Saturday that area, Kluthe Center Veteran Reflection Site, was completed with a path of rocks through a wooden awning that lead to a bench past a Japanese Maple tree.

The project came together through donations from Menards, Heartland Landscaping and Lake Land College. Caldwell said the project has showed the community’s passion for supporting veterans any way it can.

“What I’ve noticed is everybody comes out when you ask for something like this,” he said. “It’s just great to see the support and generosity you receive.”

Kluthe Center Director Karen Kull said the site shows the college’s support of its 200 to 300 veteran students.

“I think it’s a nice way to remember the veterans in Lake Land College and in the Effingham area,” she said.

Caldwell said he isn’t done with the site. In addition to working on a project for veterans at the Lake Land campus in Mattoon, he said he wants to continue to expand the Kluthe Center site with more flora and fauna.

“I’d like to see annual growth,” he said. “I want to plant a tree or shrubbery here on every Veteran’s Day and ever Arbor Day. We can make it a living (site).”

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Source: Effingham Daily News, https://bit.ly/1jwglo4.

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Information from: Effingham Daily News, https://www.effinghamdailynews.com