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A Baxter County veterans group won top state honors last month for slashing veteran suicide rates by 75% through community outreach programs that started with a simple picnic.
Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary Unit 30 received the Arkansas Auxiliary Unit of Excellence award at the state DAV convention. The group also won recognition for community service and legislative advocacy.
“What they’ve built here should be a model for every community,” said Christopher Easley, DAV national commander, who attended the ceremony with Vice Commander James Procunier.
The awards recognize six years of work that transformed a small gathering into a lifesaving movement. Last year’s 19th annual picnic drew record crowds to Arkansas State University Mountain Home’s campus, with the Mountain Home NJROTC color guard opening ceremonies and local students serving meals.
“Suicide prevention has been our big focus here for the last six or eight years,” said Dan Hall, commander of DAV Chapter 30 and husband of auxiliary commander Donna Hall. “We’ve had real success here.”
The chapter’s work caught national attention when they joined the VA’s Together With Veterans rural grant program. They became nationwide leaders and now present their model at conferences across the country.
The success stems from partnerships that began in 2019 when the chapter started hosting gatherings at Hickory Park. Local businesses, banks and health care providers funded events. Lake Forest Senior Care, where about one-third of residents are veterans, provided volunteers who helped spread the word.
One key partnership involves Baxter County Coroner Brad Hays, who trained his staff to identify veteran suicides. This gives the chapter real-time data instead of waiting three years for federal statistics.
“We track how many we contact, how many we refer, how many actually sign up for VA care,” Dan Hall explained. “As those self-initiated contacts with services go up, suicides come down.”
The picnic quickly outgrew Hickory Park. ASU Mountain Home offered its campus, allowing attendance to grow from 100 to more than 800 veterans within two years. The chapter created an official auxiliary unit to coordinate the expanding volunteer network.
Dr. Michael Moore, interim medical center director for the VA, uses the picnic to connect veterans with services. Last year, the VA offered toxic exposure screenings for the first time under the PACT Act, along with enrollment help, ID cards and vaccines.
“If you’re a veteran and not enrolled in VA Healthcare, today is your day,” Moore told the crowd.
State leaders took notice of the dramatic results. Sen. John Boozman, Rep. Rick Crawford and former Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin helped secure national recognition. Dr. Michael Scott from Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System documented the 75% drop in veteran suicides.
The program now includes three annual events. April brings a Veterans Benefit Fair. The Ultimate Veterans Benefit Car Show happens in May. The October picnic remains the centerpiece, featuring live music from local artists like the Katie Laney Project.
Last year’s picnic honored Max Rainey, a Vietnam veteran who hosted annual remembrance events before his death in July 2023. The tribute reflects how the program connects generations of veterans.
This year marks major milestones. DAV Chapter 30 celebrates 75 years. The outreach picnic turns 20 on Oct. 4. The auxiliary unit reaches six years.
“Next year’s going to be our twentieth year, and I’m already trying to think of what we’re going to do,” Dan Hall said after last year’s event.
The answer came at the state convention: three major awards recognizing how a small-town picnic became a national model for saving veterans’ lives.
Veterans and families interested in joining can contact Donna Hall at 870-321-2322.
