Wally Odd is the new president of the board and Toney Flores is the new CEO of the Dan Gvllenskog Veterans Resource Center Foundation.
LOGAN – Wally Odd, a United States Air Force veteran, has been named president of the new veteran’s association and Tony Flores, retired from the U. S. Army, has been named the CEO.
There is no longer a Cache Valley Veterans Association.
The name has changed to the Dan Gvllenskog Veterans Resource Center Foundation and the building is now the Rocky Mountain Veterans Center.
“With the new organization we can raise funds for the center,” Odd said. “We are a non-profit 501-3c. We are making some changes but want to be respectful of what has been done.”
Currently, Flores and Odd are organizing a board of directors to help steer the organization.
“We are grateful for Dr. Robert Young from Rocky Mountain Dermatology for letting us use the building,” Odd said. “Once we are organized, we will have a formal re-grand opening.”
The organization will still provide services to veterans and their families.
“Monday, we served 26 veterans and their families,” Odd said. “We did it with a certified veterans service officer.”
Anyone can still go into the foundation and get assistance. It is still designated as a place for veterans to go for help. The center still serves veterans from Cache, Rich and Box Elder counties.
The overall purpose of the organization is to provide service for veterans and their families.
“We have three priorities we are working on,” Odd said. “The first is fundraising, then get some volunteers and then work on our policies, practices and procedures.”
Odd said service should be number one, but there is not a lot of service they can provide without funding.
The Cache Chamber of Commerce provided $1,000 from a golf tournament and some local Rotary Clubs have helped the veterans in the past.
“We are working on providing space in the building for AmeriCorps and we are negotiating with Red Cross and The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI),” Odd added. “We want to work with or partner with any service organization and do what we can to help each other.”
Odd talked about the group being a good team player in the community. They met with Bear River Association of Governments in June and July, then they also met with Utah State University officials.
“We are trying to build a relationship with the ROTC department at the university,” he said. “We want to strengthen our association with American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.”
Odd said they want to look at how to better serve veterans and their families and that will make more sense when the organization is up and going.