Carol Stream veteran brings doughnuts, friendship to veterans at DuPage Care Center
What started as a visit with a friend living at the DuPage Care Center about eight years ago has turned into a lifetime commitment for Carol Stream VFW Post Cmdr. Jim Benzin.
And he wouldn't have it any other way.
In addition to his position at the post and his leadership on Carol Stream's task force to build a veterans memorial, Benzin, 70, is also the DuPage Care Center's 2018 volunteer of the year for his work with the center's Veterans Service Organization.
"All of these veterans are put in there and some of them don't have family members who visit anymore," he said. "I try to let them know they're not forgotten. They cheer me up, and hopefully I cheer them up."
Every Wednesday, without fail, the Vietnam veteran shows up at the center around noon with doughnuts donated from a local bakery, a helping hand and a welcoming ear.
"I've been blessed to have met a pretty unique group of individuals over there," he said. "I never planned on going for eight years, but it eventually just became my routine."
Sue Odland, manager of the DuPage County Care Foundation, said everyone in the program is grateful for Benzin's time and presence each week
"He truly makes a great difference in the lives of the many veterans who live at our center," she said.
Benzin also has become a skilled grant-writer, getting the local veterans group $1,000 from the national VFW organization each of the past four years to help deflect the cost of group outings, entertainment and snacks for their weekly meetings.
"As veterans do, we sit down and tell stories, and sometimes you don't know what to believe and what's the truth," he said. "But I have met Bronze Star winners and I have met the gentleman who designed the Keebler elf."
Benzin said he also once met a man who claimed to be one of only five people who knew when the D-Day invasion would take place.
"He said he was Eisenhower's clerk and typed the orders," Benzin said. "I thought for sure Alzheimer's had set in or something, but he said he was serious and wrote a book about it. I looked it up, and sure enough, he was Eisenhower's aide."
Benzin also has worked with Carol Stream's St. Luke Parish in recent years to create an "Adopt-a-Vet" program on Veterans Day.
"We have them fill out a form with some personal items they would like, whether it be a certain cologne, or a sweatshirt or hearing aid batteries," he said. "And members of St. Luke's fulfill the requests and we pass them out on Veterans Day."
Despite the joy he brings and receives from the group, he admits there have been times he's been ready to quit.
"It's tough, because over the years we lose them on a regular basis. I almost quit a couple times because of it," he said. "But after talking with the chaplain, its been OK. The rest of us need each other. So we play taps for them at the next meeting and we're there for each other."