Soledad incarcerated veterans group donates to local organizations

Incarcerated veterans at Soledad Correctional Training Facilityare helping other vets in the community. On Monday, a group inside the prison gave more than a $1,000 to local veteran groups on the Central Coast.

“These men have good hearts, yes they’ve made mistakes,” warden Marion Spearman said.

But the men that make up the Incarcerated Vietnam Veterans group are trying to pay back their debt to society.

“We’re coming back into the community, we’re participating in the community. And we are paying our own way,” inmate Edwin Munis said.

Munis, who is part of the group, aims to help vets both in and out of prison. They donated $1,500 of their own money to three local groups.

“We have food sales, various fundraisers. a lot of fellas actually donate $10, $5, $20,” Munis said.

“These guys worked hard for this. They did this on their own. We didn’t come to them. They did it, then they came to us and said, we have this for you,” Marlene Baker with Monterey County Stand Down said.

The $500 Monterey County Stand Down is getting will help open some doors. The organization reaches out to veterans of all ages. For those vets behind bars, belonging to the Incarcerated Vietnam Veterans group helps them and their families.

“They assist other veterans in getting different benefits for themselves and their family members. just because someone is incarcerated doesn’t mean their family members don’t need assistance,” Spearman said.

They said they’ve been able to help hundreds of families receive more than $14 million worth of benefits. Munis said it’s his civic service to do what he can.

“This is our community, we are a part of this community. I mean, we’re in prison but what does that mean? It doesn’t make us any less part of the community. We still have responsibilities to the community and I also feel the community has responsibilities to us,” Munis said.

“Kinda sad that the people that protected our country are homeless in our communities all around the country who protected and allowed us to have freedoms here in the United States. So our veterans here, they reach out,” Spearman said.