Red Cross hosts food, sneaker drive for Veterans

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The American Red Cross hosted a food and sneaker drive for Veterans on Sunday. George Walker, who spearheaded the effort, is a Marine Corps Veteran who served in Vietnam. Now, he represents the Red Cross at Stratton VA Medical Center, helping make sure his brothers and sisters don't go hungry.

"When a Veteran uses the resources at the hospital, if they find that in fact the Veteran is food insecure, they send him to the pantry," explained Walker. "And he's able to help feed himself and his family."

That pantry has been running extremely low in recent weeks, but Walker said it won't stay that way for long. "The community at large comes out and brings us enough food to pretty much fill that van usually, by the end of the day," he stated.

And it came with some perks. Donors got the chance to meet Luna, the therapy dog. Her owner, Yoon Quinlan, said Luna does much more than just give people a "fur fix."

"People enjoy the dog, and they seem to be a little bit more relaxed; having more fun," said Quinlan. "Especially when they have a dog at home, they just kind of say, 'Oh, I miss my dog. I feel much better.'"

Walker said he hopes to run this event again next year.