The 327th COSC is a combat operational stress control team in the U.S. military that focuses on work with soldiers overseas who battle mental, emotional, behavioral or physical issues due to their service.
The regiment, comprised of psychologists, social workers, health-care workers and others, helps provide a safe haven for military members to receive counseling and other services as needed.
The Voorhees Arts Center was recently awarded a Wawa Foundations Hero’s Grant. Co-Chair Marianne Leone said the nonprofit wanted to work with military members in some capacity.
“We knew that we wanted to build an art program for the military community, and in speaking with a current member of the VAC, we came up with what we thought would be a really cool idea to have artists make something for them while they’re deployed for them to receive,” Leone explained..
With a current VAC member’s husband serving as a Lt. Commander in the 327th COSC, a connection was made. According to the center, the regiment has been deployed overseas since December. In contacting them, the VAC found the soldiers would like to receive custom art through the grant.
With knowledge of a service member’s first name, home state, age range and a source of passion, VAC artists got to work earlier this month during a session at the Voorhees Town Center to create one-of-a-kind works of art for the soldiers. Each piece is accompanied by a watercolor card thanking servicemen and women for their service.
The artwork, according to Leone, spans various mediums, including mosaics and paintings.
“The artists got really creative with whatever individual work they were assigned for their specific person,” she noted.
The art will be sent to the military members as they return stateside sometime later this month or in October. Due to COVID-19, the soldiers will have to quarantine at Fort Dix or Fort Hood in Texas, and that is when the VAC anticipates they will receive their custom works of art.
According to Leone, the art initiative is just one of five programs the VAC plans in the coming months as a way to give back to both active military and veterans through the recent grant.
“In September, we plan to do something more local with veterans,” she noted. “We’re going to do something different over the course of the next five months in a series that will be called Healing Art for a Hero’s’ Heart.”
