Benton County Alliance Bankers present a $2,400 donation to the Mary T Klinker Veterans (MTK) Resource Center at their new facility in Boswell. Pictured (l to r): bankers Nikki Harman and Kristy Reed, MTK Executive Director Christina Loveless, and bankers Zo Olivo and Rhonda Hull.

“We can’t wait any longer to provide this healing space for our veterans,” Christina Loveless, executive director/case manager, shared through choked up tears upon receiving the Alliance Bank donation. “We did 34 suicide interventions last year. That’s more than triple the number I’ve experienced in any previous year. We will move into Veterans into Restoring Hope before the end of 2025.”

Loveless met with Alliance Bank representatives outside the armory and shared the story of the Mary T. Klinker Veterans Resource Center (referred to as MTK). The organization has been serving veterans since 2010. “We will leave no veteran behind,” she said.

A facility to help veterans has been in the works for several years, but MTK leadership knew they couldn’t wait any longer. Over the last year, the organization has been hard at work planning, fundraising, and renovating what will be Restoring Hope – a safe place for all Indiana Veterans to come and heal together.

“We’re almost there,” Loveless said as she pointed at the fundraising thermometer by the entrance. “As our pledges roll in and word spreads. We are in the home stretch of our campaign.”

As the bank representatives were shown around the vacant building by Loveless, they envisioned the sleeping quarters for veterans who come to stay – big enough for comfort, but small enough to encourage them to spend time with others in the building. Across the hall there are a few spaces for families to come and stay together through the healing process. Working with their architect, MTK plans spaces for family visits, a hands-on workshop, dining, watching television or shooting pool.

Outside the back door, veterans will have access to an outdoor kitchen, fire pit and new picnic tables. Loveless’s husband Scott is working on a project in the gym; the couple is in this mission together. Restoring Hope is the start of a five-year plan for MTK to have beds for 100 veterans to come and heal at any given time in the region.

Each quarter Alliance Bank employees select a charity to support with the Casual for a Cause program in one of the four counties where they have offices: Benton, Jasper, Pulaski and White. The gift represents employee donations and an equal match from the bank. As the bank team wrapped up their visit in Boswell, they felt a strong connection to the work of Mary T. Klinker, ramping up their giving this past quarter. Community members who believe in their mission can learn more and contribute online at mtkvets.org. The organization needs volunteers for various roles – promotion, event planning, restoration work, and working directly with veterans.

A Hero

The visiting Alliance Bank representatives reported they could feel Mary T. Klinker’s presence from her portrait hanging in the hall - a recent gift from the Klinker family. The Lafayette native worked at St. Elizabeth Hospital when she joined the Air Force in 1970 as a flight nurse. She was stationed in the Philippines as the end of the Vietnam War approached. Capt. Klinker lost her life April 4, 1975. She was part of “Operation Babylift” to evacuate over 2,000 orphans from Saigon. Mechanical failures on the plane she boarded that day forced an emergency landing. Klinker and 138 others lost their lives. At age 27, she was the only member of the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps to be killed in Vietnam.

- Article prepared by Ashley Bice, AVP/Marketing Director