While a tentative agreement in Congress appears to be in place to avoid a second partial government shutdown on Friday, the Gloucester chapter of the Disabled American Veterans stands ready to offer aid to affected active duty and retired military personnel alike.

“We’re trying to get ahead of the power curve here,” said former state commander and current Gloucester DAV member Dan Miller.

“It would be in our best interests to provide service, not only to disabled veterans, but veterans working for the government and contractors who may be furloughed,” said Gloucester DAV Commander Kevin Farmer.

According to the two, “service means a lot of things” but in this case emergency relief will mean financial assistance. The Gloucester DAV chapter has an emergency relief fund that is funded by shared profit from regional DAV thrift stores as well as earmarked donations from the public.

In the past, non-members were offered a lesser amount of aid com...