The Jasper County Veterans Affairs Office still has 47% of its budget remaining heading into the final three months of this current fiscal year. That’s just over $104,000. Veterans Affairs Administrator Ray Maxey presented the last two quarterly reports to the Jasper County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. The Office submitted 61 Veterans Administration Compensation and Pension claims from October through March. County Assistance over that six month period, in the form of utility and rent assistance as well as gas and food cards, totaled just over $18,000. Maxey says that was allocated to 75 local veterans. The Jasper County Rideshare program also provided 67 rides from October to March, and reimbursed volunteers a little over $3,000 in mileage.

“Which is an awesome program. It is utilized heavily in Jasper County. We have a lot of vets that really appreciate it. The college people that help us out with it really enjoy doing it as well.”

Maxey says the rideshare program averaged assisting eight veterans a month during the second and third quarters of the year.