This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Presidential candidates have talked a lot this year about veterans and how they will take care of former military members.

That concern for veterans seems to ratchet up during election season, and then fades away.

But here is a story about genuine concern, not just the attention-getting type:

Dwight Hahn is a member of the Disabled American Veterans who was severely beaten and robbed of nearly everything he owned. He reached out to the Salt Lake City chapter of the DAV for help with his insurance deductible so he could replace most of what was stolen.

DAV members came up with the $1,000 deductible he needed for the insurance to kick in.

Highway to help • Julie DeHerrera, a former Salt Lake Tribune staffer, was exiting Interstate 80 recently when her car died in the middle lane.

She was trying to figure out how to get the vehicle out of traffic when a man named Travis stopped and began directing traffic around her. He then tried to push her car to the side of road, but the gears locked up and it wouldn't budge.

A Utah Highway Patrol trooper arrived and moved her car with his vehicle.

Friend Becky Cato responded to her call, quickly arriving to give her a ride home. And AAA came for the tow.

City worker to the rescue • Salt Lake City sanitation worker Wesley Burningham, a former University of Utah football player, was on his trash-collection route near Sugar House recently when he noticed an elderly woman on the ground. At first, he thought she was just pulling weeds in her garden, but something didn't feel right, so he circled back.

As he got out of his truck and approached her, he saw that her face was covered with blood, and she had a big bump on her forehead. She said she had fallen, and Burningham could see she was dazed.

He helped the 93-year-old woman to her front porch and called 911. He then waited with her, talking to her to keep her alert, until the ambulance arrived. It turned out she had suffered a concussion.

Burningham went back to her house a week later and learned she is doing fine.

Feeding the hungry • Catholic Community Services' northern Utah program, "Bridging the Gap," is a mobile pantry, delivering food to 2,100 hungry children each month at elementary schools in the Ogden and Weber school districts.

"There are more than 20,000 students in the Ogden and Weber school districts who participate in the free and reduced lunch program during the school week," said Randy Chappell, director of Catholic Community Services in northern Utah. "On the weekend, they do not have access to these meals and that's where Bridging the Gap steps in. We provide two grocery bags full of nutritious food for each child to get them through the weekend."

To Ukraine with love • Salem teenager Michael McVey heard recently about the plight of orphans in war-torn Ukraine and decided to do something about it.

For his Eagle Scout project and with help from other Scouts, he collected clothes and packed them in dozens of boxes ready for shipment to volunteer groups in the country.

A neighbor, Nata Stone, who is from Ukraine, posted on Facebook in her native language the Scouts' efforts. It has received more than 1,000 "likes."

An acquaintance of Stone's in Ukraine has collected chevrons from Ukrainian military veterans and Ukrainian flags for shipment to Stone, who will present them to McVey and his fellow Scouts.

Pay it forward • A recent police fundraiser held a raffle to raise money for the family of fallen Unified Police officer Doug Barney, who was killed in the line a duty in January.

South Salt Lake Councilman Ben Pender, also a Unified Police officer and a friend of Barney, won one of the top prizes: a new police handgun.

The councilman then asked which of the South Salt Lake police officers in attendance was newest to the force.

He gave it to the rookie, acknowledging how hard it is for officers to begin their law enforcement careers.

Anonymous Samaritan • Lucy Jordan was on her way home from a Salt Lake City Costco when she realized she had left her purse with her cellphone and wallet full of credit cards in the cart in the parking lot.

She returned to the lot, hoping the cart hadn't been moved and her purse was still in it.

Someone had found the purse, however, and turned it into the store office, with everything intact.