BPVA Annual Report 2025

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2025 annual report

2025 BPVA ANNUAL REPORT

The Buckeye PVA Chapter is proud to present the Annual Report for the 2025 Fiscal Year. This report shows our Chapter’s programs and progress over the year.

OFFICERS Milton Young, President & Government Relations Director Larry Bostic, Vice President & Membership Officer Holly Koester, Secretary Lucas Meyer, Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Tiffaney Davison, Board Member Douglas Beckley, National Director Paul Mann, Co-Sports & Rec Director Robert Morris, Board Member Chadwick Watiker, Board Member

STAFF

Betsey Kamm, Executive Director Sarah Hoffman, Associate Executive Director

SENIOR BENEFITS ADVOCATES Aaron Stevens, Cleveland Michael Yaskowiak, Cleveland

BPVA OFFICE 2775 Bishop Rd, Suite B Willoughby Hills, OH 44092 Phone:(216) 731-1017 Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00a.m-5:00p.m.

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2025 BPVA ANNUAL REPORT

Fundraising The support of a generous community allows us to carry out our mission. Part of our budgeting process involves working to bring in income to support all our various initiatives. Right now, our campaign calendar includes: Buckeye Wheelchair Games Sponsorships Bass Fishing Tournament Sponsorships Golf Outing Sponsorships Billiards Tournament Sponsorships Member Holiday Gift Card Campaign We welcome gifts of any size at any time during the year. You may donate online via our website or by check, payable to: Paralyzed Veterans of America Buckeye Chapter (or Buckeye PVA) 2775 Bishop Rd Ste B Willoughby Hills OH 44092

You may also support us by advertising in our newsletter, the Buckeye Banner. The newsletter comes out quarterly and reaches about 1,200 of our supporters. Our list is continually growing. Advertising rates are in each issue. Advertising help us distribute our newsletter to our members and to VA locations around the state.

You can leave a legacy of support by including the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buckeye Chapter in your estate plans. One of the easiest and most common way to do this is to include a gift to the Buckeye PVA in your will or living trust. This can be a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate or the remainder of your estate. Sample language that you can give to your attorney: “I give [amount, percentage, or description of property] to Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buckeye Chapter, a nonprofit corporation with the Federal Tax ID #23-7193597, to be used for its general charitable purposes.”

People who are age 70 ½ or older can contribute up to $108,000 from their IRA per year directly to a charity and avoid paying income taxes on the distribution. This is known as a qualified charitable distribution. It is limited to IRAs, and there are other exclusions and considerations as well.

Or, consider naming the chapter as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

You can also transfer ownership of a paid-up policy to our organization to receive an immediate tax deduction. Please consult with your tax 3 advisor about any of these options. www.buckeyepva.org

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Letter From Our President Dear Friend of Buckeye PVA, On behalf of the Buckeye Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America, I want to extend my deepest gratitude for your unwavering support over the past year.

As you know, our chapter remains dedicated to the vital mission of serving veterans living with spinal cord injuries and diseases like MS and ALS. Your generosity—whether through your time, donations, or participation in programs such as the Buckeye Wheelchair Games, Hot Dog Day, the golf outing or our Billiards Tournament—allows us to help our members live with the independence and dignity they have earned through their service.

Looking ahead, we are filled with hope. We remain committed to: Advocating for high-quality specialized health care within the VA system.

Empowering our members through local athletics, social engagement and peer support.

Expanding our outreach to ensure that every paralyzed veteran in Ohio is aware of our services and how we can help.

Your partnership ensures that our mission continues to grow. Thank you for standing with us as we serve those who have served us all.

With gratitude, Milton Young, President 4

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2025 Organizational Donors ACGRD (PVA Advocacy group) A&H Trucking Akron Rubber Ducks American Legion Post #0091 - Berea American Legion Post #0112 - Madison American Legion Post #0134 - Circleville American Legion Post #0144 - Columbus American Legion Post #0407 - Doylestown AMVETS Post #22 - Vermilion Applebee’s Grill + Bar - Ashtabula BMW of North Canton BrightStar Care Buckeye Nissan Charity Navigator Giving Basket Donors Chipotle Cleveland Bakers Local No 19 CER Fund Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland Guardians Baseball Cleveland Monsters Col. Justice M. Chambers- Gunny’s Hall Marine Corps League #555 Coloplast US Headquarters Columbus Grove’s Annual June Jubilee Festival Combined Federal Campaign - Anonymous Costco Wholesale Corporation Covelli Enterprises Dwight H. Perrin Fund Edward Jones Investments: Greg Chaplin, CFP, ChFC Emmett Jacobson Charitable Gift Fund Fat Head’s Brewery Firelands Veterans for the Preservation of Patriotism Fraternal Order of Eagles #2282 - Berea George Music Company Health Aid of Ohio iGive.com John & Elizabeth Turner Foundation KeyBank National Association MobilityWorks Munich RE America Services, LLC Oak Ridge Farm Ohio AMVETS Post 1965 - Norwalk PayPal Giving Fund Petitti Garden Centers Play It Again Sports Riveon Mental Health & Recovery Ross Environmental Services Save A Lot Sgt Clean Car Wash

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SGT GRIT Sons of The American Legion Squadron #0091 - Berea Strongsville Browns Backers The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation The Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Foundation The John F. Gallagher Co. The Kendall Foundation Thrive Through Tennis Thrivent Choice Todd Nigh Builder LLC Topgolf Toyota of North Canton TTF Tronics LLC UA Local 94 Plumbers and Pipefitters VFW Post #108 - Chillicothe VFW Post #870 - Richwood VFW Post #943 - Ashtabula VFW Post # 1055 - Ravenna VFW Post #1066 - Barberton VFW Post #1067 - Ashland VFW Post #1069 - Fairfield VFW Post #1079 - Elyria VFW Post #1380 - Lancaster VFW Post #1500 - Willoughby VFW Post #1863 - Solon VFW Post #2529 - Sandusky VFW Post #2595 - Painesville VFW Post #2629 - Aurora VFW Post #2743 - Norwalk VFW Post #2800 - Dayton VFW Post #2898 - Toledo VFW Post #3767 - Hubbard VFW Post #3863 Eastlake VFW Post #4044 - Columbus VFW Post #4237 - Austintown VFW Post #4358 Willoughby Hills VFW Post #5018 - Dayton VFW Post #5101 - Lexington VFW Post #5563 - Valley City VFW Post #6519 - Chardon VFW Post #6676 - Brook Park-Berea VFW Post #6941 - Wellington VFW Old Stoners Post #7371 (Kipling) VFW Post #8975 - Akron VFW Post #9289 - Saint Mary’s VFW Post #9340 - Columbia Station VFW Auxiliary Post #9871 - North Ridgeville www.buckeyepva.org

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Best Kept Secret No More

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In the many years I have served in nonprofit organizations, a way I have heard many organizations describe themselves is “Organization XYZ is the best kept secret!” So, a common refrain among nonprofits is that they are amazing and do great things, yet so few people know about them.

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In the past year, the Buckeye Chapter worked hard to become less of a secret!

The organization introduced itself to nearly 600 veterans service organizations throughout the state. We are pretty sure that most of them had not previously heard of us. This has several benefits for us, first, spreading the word about who we are and what we do, so, for example Veterans with MS or ALS that may not have been aware of the services we provide, can learn about them and possibly access them. Second is that many of these organizations have responded favorably to our requests for financial support.

This helps us directly to carry out our mission.

We attended numerous fairs and events throughout the state.

Board members in our Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus locations and our BPVA staff got out to meet and greet the public at tables.

We were at the Lake County Community College for the Stars and Strides 5K and Armed Forces Day; the Medina County Fair; Combined Federal Campaign events at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the Cleveland VA Medical Center; and at the Grove City Veterans Resources Fair among others.

We placed print advertisements in the Cleveland Browns Yearbook, Bass Angler magazine and the DD214 Chronicle. We received coverage in the Brunswick-Medina edition of Parish Neighbors.

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Letter From Our Executive Director Continued We were guests twice on New Day Cleveland morning television show.

We continued to build our presence on social media and implemented a Google Nonprofit Ad grant to drive more traffic to our website.

No matter how good any of these sound, it is certain that these efforts are not a permanent fix in our gaining visibility. To maintain any gains we make, we have to do this and more and keep on doing it.

If you have ideas for the Chapter on places we can be or publication we can be featured in, please let us know! And spread the word in your circles. If we can support you in doing that, please let us know that, too.

We are here to help!

Chapter Administration Our Chapter Office is located at 2775 Bishop Road, Suite B, Willoughby Hills, OH 44092. The office is staffed by our Executive Director, and our Associate Executive Director. The day to day work of the staff is to fundraise, bring awareness of our chapter, and coordinate any events involving our chapter.

The staff helps execute the board’s vision on projects and ideas to better our chapter and our members. The staff and the board work to ensure every member is taken care of the best they can. The board and staff meets via zoom on the 3rd Thursday of every month for Board of Directors meetings.

Very Truly Yours,

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Betsey Kamm Executive Director www.buckeyepva.org

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Membership

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he Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buckeye Chapter Membership, as of September 30, 2025 stands at a total of 456 to include 234 Service-Connected and 222 Non-Service-Connected members.

With a concentration on recruiting, we gained 29 new members and 4 members transferred from other Chapters. We unfortunately lost 27 members, had 2 members transfer to other Chapters and 18 removed through attrition.

The Buckeye PVA Chapter has Life memberships of Honorably Discharged Veterans with a Spinal Cord Injury, regardless of how or when the injury occurred. Life Membership entitles the individual to membership in the Paralyzed Veterans of America for the rest of his/her natural life. They are entitled, without charge, to continual receipt of the Paraplegia News and other Chapter publications through their Chapter of choice regardless of geographical location. The PVA also has an Associate membership where one can be recommended by a Chapter Board Member, for those without a spinal cord injury, but have a deep interest in the PVA to significantly contribute to our priorities.

Our membership is expanded through communication such as telephone, letters, chapter emails, bulletins and brochures as well as visitation in Veterans Administration Hospitals and Clinics in the Chapters area of responsibility.

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Coordination with local Veteran Organizations for the Disabled is also a method to reach out and pursue new members. Where not only are our active members of the Buckeye Chapter spinal cord patients, we also have registered volunteers that assist in outreach programs to our Veterans at a VA Hospital or Nursing Home.

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Membership Continued Our General Membership Meetings occur every quarter via zoom and in person at our Chapter’s VA Hospitals. Contact your local Board Member via email, phone or in writing for more information to participate in one of our many programs. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting or event.

Respectfully Larry R. Bostic Jr. Vice-President/Membership Chair

In Memoriam In Memory of

Kim Caswell Jerry R Corn William E Drake James A Dunbar Glenn H Grismere Thomas E Habart Jay S Hefferon Larry D Kelly Fred W Layfield Robert J Lucas David W Miller Michael M Nicely William L Nolte David A North

Bryan A Page Arsenio Rodriguez Joe F Ryan David L Shellabarger Bernard C Smith Paul A Sonye Robert P Weber Ralph E Wellendorf Tyrone A Wilson Isaac P Young Richard E Barr David J Beck Geary J Burke

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Government Relations

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One of the many benefits of being a chapter of a national organization is the top-notch support for advocacy that Paralyzed Veterans of America can provide to its chapters. Each June, National PVA organizes a trip to Washington DC and provides chapter representatives with policy priorities to talk over with their respective legislators. This past June, two the Buckeye Chapter was able to send our Chair of Government Relations, Chapter President Milton Young. And thanks in part to a grant we received from the ACGRD, the advocacy group of PVA chapters, we were also able to send Vice President Larry Bostic.

Our office staff planned the schedule to get Milton and Larry into the offices of as many legislators as possible during their visit. In the end they were able to meet with staffers from the offices of Representative Troy Balderson; Representative Joyce Beatty; Representative Mike Turner; Representative Greg Landsman; Representative Shontel Brown; Representative Michael Rulli; and Representative Bob Latta.

The PVA policy priorities that were discussed included: Protecting the VA’s specialized healthcare services Increasing access to long-term services and supports for Veterans with spinal cord injury or disease (SCI/D) Improving Veterans’ financial security Enhancing access to health care services for Veterans with SCI/D and Defending the freedoms of Veterans with disabilities.

Among the challenges within the VA system of care for people with SCI/D that PVA and the chapter representatives have addressed with their elected representatives were: addressing staffing vacancies and lack of available beds and increasing access to VA-direct care closer to home.

The Buckeye Chapter is grateful for the opportunity to have the support of National PVA in helping to move forward this important work.

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Mark Your Calendar 2026

Buckeye Wheelchair Games April 23-25, 2026 SPIRE Academy, Geneva, Ohio

PVA Bass Tournament Series Stop 6 May 29-31, 2026 Mosquito Lake State Park, Cortland, Ohio

15th Annual Buckeye PVA Golf Outing Monday, September 14, 2026 Bunker Hill Golf Course, Medina, Ohio

Paralyzed Veterans of America Billiards Tournament October 22-24, 2026 (novice clinic October 22) Cushions Billiards & Lounge, Westerville, Ohio 11 www.buckeyepva.org

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Chapter Advocacy and Legislative Work

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Advocacy is one of the best tools we have to make change happen. Our members and staff are very active about educating policymakers and others about issues that would impact veterans and others with disabilities.

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In June of 2025, we had our President, Milton Young, and our Vice President, Larry Bostic, go to Washington D.C. to speak with members of the congressional delegation and staff during PVA’s Annual Advocacy Legislative Seminar. Our Chapter spoke up for veterans with disabilities and made sure their voice was heard.

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As we enter a new fiscal year, we will continue to form strong relationships with Ohio congressional delegation to ensure we are giving a voice to those who need one. We will continue to focus on issues that impact our membership in our state as well.

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Sports and Recreation

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t the Buckeye chapter of the PVA we use sports and recreation to keep veterans all throughout the state of Ohio active and on the move. We are able to give them a life as an athlete, which they may not have had before.

We have many programs to help us do this. We have our individual sports program, ISPs. This program helps athletes attend sporting events in and out of the state of Ohio. They can get refunded up to $500 per event. This helps with travel or lodging. Ohio athletes attend events that range from billiards and racing to rugby, and softball. We also help to fund other team sports with veterans on the roster. We can encourage participation that way. Every year with the help of the Ohio Veterans Medical Centers, we host the Buckeye Wheelchair Games in Geneva, Ohio. The BWGs have paralytic events that range from weightlifting to disc golf.

This year, we are excited to introduce bass fishing to our members.

With the help of national PVA, we will be hosting our first stop on the tour this year.

Our organization dedicates a lot of time and resources to have sports and recreation available for our veterans. We do this so that they can stay physically active and have opportunities to interact with others.

Respectfully, Paul Mann, Sports Director 13 www.buckeyepva.org

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Communication We have multiple ways we try to reach out and communicate with our members. We have our socials, our newsletter, emails, and phone calls as ways of keeping in touch.

Our newsletter goes out quarterly to all of our members and chapters. It gives updates to upcoming events, how past events went, stories from our members, and just information we feel our members should know. We are always posting on our socials of events past and upcoming as well. By posting on socials and having our newsletter it lets our members know what events are out there for them and if they missed out this time, they can go to the event next year.

There is a committee in charge of birthday calls for all of our members. They get assigned a group and when it is that member’s birthday; they give them a call to wish them happy birthday and just to talk with them for a little bit. Our board members always report back how much they themselves enjoy talking to our members, but how much our members enjoy the calls as well.

In case our members aren’t in touch with our newsletter, and/or social media, we always send out mass emails just to make sure our members are informed. We want our members to feel connected to the chapter make sure they are getting all the news updates and events going on at Buckeye PVA. Please be sure to keep us up to date on any address or email changes and follow us on social media for the latest news.

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Services and Programs The BPVA has multiple events throughout the year to benefit our members. We also have programs to help out our members in need.

Some events include Arts and Crafts Billiards Tournament Buckeye Wheelchair Games Hot Dog Days General Membership Meetings Our events help our members feel closer to their community as well as the other members. These events give them a chance to be social and meet people they maybe wouldn't have gotten to meet anywhere else.

We have Hot Dog Days once a month at the VA. Our Vice President, Larry, and his wife, Christy, volunteer their time to deliver hot dogs to our members at the VA.

Some programs we offer Holiday Gift Cards Emergency Assistance Disaster Relief Funding Mileage Reimbursement Individual Sports Program Senior Benefit Advocates The programs we offer are to help when our members need financial assistance. We help them so they are able to afford groceries, repair their house, pay their utilities bill, and more. Our Holiday Gift Program is during November/December. We provide a choice of 3 different grocery stores to our members.

We send them a card with a set amount on it for them to use for their holiday meals. This year we also provided our members with a mini desk calendar with their gift card.

Our board members Larry Bostic and Tiffaney Davison with one of our members for Hot Dog Day

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Donors 2025 Individual Donors Anonymous Jim & Prudence Aylsworth Carolyn Barnes Doug & Kim Beckley Nate & Ashley Beckley Leroy Bell Donald Bement Cristy Bostic Larry Bostic Jr. Larry Bostic Sr. Nancy & Richard Bredemeier Giving Fund Ronnie Brown Tony Burnette Patti-Jo Burtnett Tim Callahan Daniel Chapman Cloud Financial Solutions, LLC - Adam Ausperk Martha Connell Joseph Corrigan Don Crago Terry Davison Blaine & Helen Denious Anonymous Donor Lew & Anne Duff Frederick Dunlap Sam Fiorentino Katherine Funkner Samuel Gordon Neil & Amy Gorman Gene Gorniak Bill & Betsy Green Mr & Mrs Robert Grome Robert Haas James Hayes Kim Hirose & John Tobe Woodmont Commercial Consulting - Mark Holtz Betsey Kamm Brian Kline Holly Koester KC Koester & Sharon Hammer Paul Ladikos Christie MacMurray Richard & Polly Marabito Fund Vernelle McGlumphy Charles McMillan David Miller

Michael & Judy Miller James Milliken Steven Minardi Shirley Morgan Robert Morris Terry & Jerry Myers David Norris William Oblaczynski Dennis Olivares Mark & Eva Perkins Eleanor Peterman Emily Pierce Melinda Powell Brian Ridzy John Robinson William Rogers Judith Rubinstein Robert Ruff Don Schiffbauer Ellen Schwartz George Smith Karen Tuersley Tom & Judy Tulisiak Sedric Watkins Debbie & Larry Zavodney

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ANNUAL REPORT

Willoughby Hills, 44092

2775 Bishop Rd-Ste B

Buckeye Chapter

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Paralyzed Veterans of America

Paralyzed Veterans of America, Buckeye Chapter

@PVABuckeye Paralyzed Veterans of America-Buckeye Chapter

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