As a United States Air Force veteran, Jill Marsh, Mental Health Association finance director, facilitates a group for veterans and their families at the Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County. With the approaching cold weather, she is also encouraging donations to the Hat and Glove Drive.

In honor of Veterans Day, on Tuesday, November 11 both the Jamestown and Dunkirk recovery centers of the Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County will be closed.

Then, as it does every week on Wednesdays, the MHA’s Veterans Group will meet the next day from 11 a.m. to noon in Jamestown.

The group is facilitated by Jill Marsh, MHA finance director and an Air Force veteran.

“This group is for veterans and people who have had veterans in their families,” Marsh said. “We have trivia, play games, eat a small lunch, and help veterans receive the support that they need. We are peer-to-peer run. We give veterans a safe place to gather and share their military experiences.”

Any veteran or family member is welcome to join the group at any time. Marsh can be reached at 716-661-9044 or Jill.Marsh@MHAChautauqua.org for more information.

“I’m also encouraging donations of new men’s and women’s hats and gloves to our Hat and Glove Drive,” Marsh said. “As cold weather approaches, too many of our participants are unhoused or simply don’t have enough money to buy what they need to keep warm.”

Through Thursday, November 20, new hats and gloves for adults – no children’s items or other clothing, please – are welcomed at the Jamestown location between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Contributors are thanked in advance for helping others with the basic need to be warm.

The Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County is a peer recovery center offering support groups and individual coaching for people looking to improve their lives, deepen wellness, thrive in recovery, or support those on a recovery path. Peers use their personal stories to help people find recovery in their own lives in their own way.

The Jamestown recovery center, at Door 14 in the rear of the Gateway Center, 31 Water Street, is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hours for the North County recovery center at Grace Lutheran Church, 601 Eagle St., Dunkirk, are Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

To learn more about the Mental Health Association, call 716-661-9044 or visit MHAChautauqua.org or Facebook.com/MHAChautauqua. A schedule with descriptions of MHA’s dozens of groups and classes in Dunkirk and Jamestown is at MHAChautauqua.org/groups.