At age 88, Korean War veteran Stan Levin has earned the right to spend all his evenings in the warm comfort of his Serra Mesa home.
But several nights a month for the past six years, Levin has patrolled the streets of downtown San Diego, handing out free sleeping bags, socks and snacks to homeless men and women he finds sleeping on the sidewalks.
Levin, who makes all his street runs with fellow veteran Gilbert Field, is the No. 1 delivery man for San Diego Veterans for Peace’s Compassion Campaign. The program was started seven years ago by member Jan Ruhman, who was troubled by the large number of unsheltered veterans he saw shivering in the cold downtown.
Levin said he feels an intuitive connection with the people he meets on the streets. As a boy growing up in Philadelphia, he endured extreme hardship he’d rather forget. And his combat experiences in Korea left him with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, something he sees in many of the homeless people he meets.
“The gratitude that is spilled on us out there is overwhelming,” he said. “I’ll do it until all the people are off the streets or until I’m not around anymore.”
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