Nonprofit sends veterans craft kits to help them stay busy while at home

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published 27 July 2020

Veterans across the United States are spending their days painting, making wallets, and finishing needlepoint projects, thanks to a nonprofit organization that sends free arts and crafts kits to vets.

Help Heal Veterans was started in 1971, and distributes the therapeutic kits to veterans so they can have something to focus on during challenging times, like recovering from an injury. In a typical year, the organization distributes 350,000 to 400,000 kits, but due to demand because of the pandemic, nearly 150,000 have been shipped out over the last two months.

Marine Corps veteran Mark Kaleimamahu has multiple sclerosis, and told ABC News the kits have helped take his mind off of the fact he can't have visitors during the pandemic. He has made a wall clock, a wallet, and a messenger bag, and those projects "helped pass the time," he said. "It relieved a bunch of stress, anxiety, and they were fun to do — along with helping us mentally, spiritually, and physically."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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