Montana va volunteer to perform 2,000th concert for fellow veterans | va montana health care | veterans affairs

HELENA , MT — A Montana VA Health Care System volunteer will perform his 2,000th free music concert for his fellow Veterans at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center at 11 a.m. on July 10.

Robert Perry, who served in the Marine Corps from 1972 to 1975, has been performing free music concerts at Fort Harrison on a weekly basis for the last 29 years.  “Montana VA volunteers

bring a lot more than their time to their voluntary service,” said Kim Adkins, Montana VA’s Associate Director. “These volunteers enrich our healthcare facilities with a unique set of

talents and experiences. They are a priceless asset to our Montana Veterans.”  Perry has performed at a variety of events such as memorial dedications, standdowns, festivals, and rally’s

such as Rolling Thunder with originally written music. The Dayton, Ohio native began writing songs and playing for the Veteran patients at Fort Harrison VA while unofficially volunteering in

July of 1995. He would play on inpatient units, in the patient rooms and in the main lobbies. Currently, he performs on the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center’s parade field.  After 13 years

of unofficially volunteering at the VA from 1995 to 2008, Perry became an official VA volunteer. Over the last 16 years he has volunteered over 1,850 hours of his time for Veterans.  After

nearly three decades, Perry expects to retire from volunteering – possibly after his 2,000th concert.  For Fiscal Year 2023, Montana VA had 218 Volunteers who served more than 37,000 hours

across the state. Our Volunteer Transportation Network (VTN) transported 8,476 Veterans and drove 356,981 miles.  While these Volunteers do a lot for Montana Veterans, there is always more

that can be done, and the Montana VA is always looking for people who want to support our local veterans. Volunteers can serve in a myriad of ways from driving Veterans to their appointments

to greeting Veterans at their local clinic. If you would like to support our nation’s heroes by becoming a volunteer, go to www.volunteer.va.gov, to apply to become a volunteer at one of

our many VA facilities.  The MTVAHCS serves over 49,000 enrolled Veterans across Montana—an area roughly 147,000 square miles in size. Veterans are cared for by a staff of 1,400 at 18 sites

of care across the state.  One third of Montana VA employees are Veterans.   -30-