Monthly Blog

Auxiliary Outreach Feb 25

Michele Brinson 901-734-8160 email

First, I want to say “thank you” to all of the auxiliaries who have been reporting their volunteer activities and hours spent with other organizations in our communities. To date, we have had a total of 36 reports from 19 auxiliaries, totaling 384 members and 1,323.50 hours. I want to recognize the following auxiliaries who have submitted reports: 2434, 3036, 3253, 3373, 3806, 3962, 4100, 4272, 4934, 4970, 5393, 5395, 5397, 6731, 7531, 9832, 12124, 12216, and 12192. In addition, I want to recognize three auxiliaries and share with you what they have been doing:

  • Auxiliary 6731: To date, they have had 4 members volunteer a total of 120
    hours with the Friends of the Jackson County Animal Shelter and with Jackson
    County Animal Rescue.
  • Auxiliary 9832: To date, they have had 80 members volunteer a total of 240
    hours with Grace Place.
  • Auxiliary 5397: To date, they have had 69 members volunteer a total of 350
    hours with Twin Forks Rising CDC, Shady Grove Church, Kappa, Girl Scout
    Troop 3884, and with Hawkins Elementary School.
    I feel certain all of you are doing Auxiliary Outreach and just want to remind you
    that there is still time to get your volunteer activities approved, reported, and
    counted.
    Remember the Steps to a Successful Auxiliary Outreach Project are:
  • Vote and approve a motion to provide assistance and partner with other
    organizations in your community in your meeting and record that approval in your meeting minutes. Approval should occur prior to the outreach activity except on rare occasions such as a natural disaster or emergency. You can do this where it covers all activities/partnerships for the entire year or prior to each activity/partnership as they occur.
  • Partner with organizations that could use assistance.
  • At least one Auxiliary member must participate in order to be counted as auxiliary outreach, and projects may be done by only the Auxiliary or together with the VFW Post.
  • Wear VFW Auxiliary attire while participating (shirt, hat, name badge, lanyard, etc.).
  • Take pictures of all the amazing things you are doing in your communities and share with other auxiliaries, your Department Historian, National Headquarters, and with me.
  • Count all volunteer hours (but not monetary donations).
  • Share information about the VFW Auxiliary; i.e., what we do, why we do it, how
    someone can become a member, etc.
    Now, Let’s Take Another Look At What’s Considered Auxiliary Outreach:
  • Projects that are not affiliated with the VFW or VFW Auxiliary.
  • Volunteering your time/hours collecting needed items.
  • Participating in walks that benefit other organizations by being an event spotter, water station volunteer, timekeeper, etc. (Note: Does not include walking in the event or sponsoring someone who walks in the event).
  • Partnering with law enforcement personnel with child ID kits, bicycle safety
    training, collecting stuffed animals, etc.
  • Partnering with firefighters with fire safety and prevention training, passing out smoke detectors.
  • Partnering with EMTs by helping with CPR training.
  • Partnering with Senior Citizens Centers by teaching a basic computer class,
    playing bingo, doing arts and crafts, etc.
  • Partnering with parks and recreation departments or garden clubs by adopting a park, planting trees, cleaning up; etc.
  • Partnering with animal shelters by cleaning kennels, walking animals, collecting bedding, cleaning supplies, food, leashes, etc.
  • Partnering with homeless shelters by serving food, cleaning up, etc.
  • Partnering with food pantries/banks or Meals on Wheels, stocking shelves,
    packing boxes, serving food, delivering meals, etc.
  • Partnering with Life Blood at their blood drives.
  • Partnering with organizations such as House of Grace, Hope Ministries, Sacred
    Heart, by collecting, sorting, and passing out clothing, household goods,
    furniture, appliances, etc.
  • Partnering with organizations that provide medical equipment by collecting
    needed items; i.e., wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, etc.
  • Partnering with a church hosting a community-wide event Easter egg hunt,
    trunk or treat, breakfast with Santa, Vacation Bible School, fall festivals, etc.
    Please don’t forget to take photos or your activities. Remember, one Auxiliary in each of the 10 Program Divisions with the most outstanding photo collage of their Auxiliary Outreach partnerships during the Program Year will receive a Citation and $25 at the end of the year.
    Again, thank you for all of your hard work. If you have any questions or need
    assistance, please contact me via text/phone call at 901-734-8160 or via email at . I look forward to seeing many more reports in the coming months from all of you and hope to see you in March.

Americanism Feb 25

Dawn Lawson 601-274-6407 email

February is a month of lots of enjoyment. 

The 9th was the Super Bowl, the 14th is 💕Valentines Day and the 17th is Presidents Day. 

Please take time to realize all of these events are at a high cost of those who gave their lives to allow us the Freedom to enjoy. 

Take  a moment to say a prayer for our troops unable to be home with family and for their safety. 

Thank a Veteran and say a prayer for all our Armed Forces.

God bless 💕

Legislative Jan 25

Rebecca Todd 901-262-8183 email

Happy New Year y’all!!

It is a brand new year and we need to continue being active in our legislative advocacy. This past year, the Elizabeth Dole Act was finally passed and is waiting the president’s signature to be signed into law. This will improve benefits for veterans and caregivers. Unfortunately, the Major Richard Star Act did not pass, even though it had much support. We have to continue our support of this much needed bill for reform of retirement pay and disability compensation.

Remember to keep pushing our legislators and letting our voices be heard! I urge you to sign up for Action Corp weekly, if you are not already.  This allows you to receive Action Alerts.  These let you know your voice is needed immediately in support of legislation that improves our veterans lives.
If you need help signing up for Action Corp weekly, call me and I will get you hooked up.
Together we can do this!

Veterans & Family Support Jan 25

Monica Jones 769-299-8133 email

Now with the holidays over and the New Year in full swing this is a great time to each out and check on your home bound veterans. A phone call, card, or a drop in visit. It could make a world of difference. 

If you or someone you know needs support now. call or text 988. 

Please get the message out.

It is the new number for suicide and crisis lifeline. Try promoting this on your social media. Even in your local paper. 

To chat with someone online 988lifeline.org

There is hope.!

Historian Jan 25

Lisa Thompson 662-586-8870 email

As in the past VFW and VFW Auxiliary members have honors the legacy of
Martin Luther King Jr
On January 15th 2024 this year encourage your members to volunteer in their communities
create a video and submit it to your local news channel
or even create a Youtube video of the days events
Picture taking is a must – which you will need after creating your Youtube channel for uploading purposes
post on Facebook or Instagram or if you get more enthralled a Youtube channel video may do the trick

You can participate in the VFW Day of Service by:
Telling the VFW if you or your post will be participating
Including other organizations participating in or benefiting from the event
Hosting a community service event
******************************************************
Make sure you have a google account and a gmail email address before creating the Youtube channel
*******************************************************
Creating a personal channel
Sign in to YouTube on a computer.
Click your profile picture. Settings .
Click Add or manage your channel(s).
Click Create a channel .
You’ll be asked to create a channel.
Check the details (with your Google Account name and photo) and confirm to create your channel.

********************************************************

Create a channel with a business or other name

Follow these instructions to create a channel that can have more than one manager or owner.
You can connect your channel to a Brand Account if you want to use a different name on YouTube than your Google Account. Learn more about Brand Accounts.
Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the mobile site.
Go to your channel list.
Choose to create a new channel or use an existing Brand Account:
Create a channel by clicking Create a new channel.
Create a YouTube channel for a Brand Account that you already manage by choosing the Brand Account from the list. If this Brand Account already has a channel, you can’t create a new one. When you select the Brand Account from the list, you’ll be switched over to that channel.
Fill out the details to name your new channel. Then, click Create. This will create a new Brand Account.
To add a channel manager, follow the instructions to change channel owners and managers.

Have Fun Y’all 

Scholarships Jan 25

Lanell Thornton (662)549-2856 email

Happy New Year!

It’s the start of a new year and new beginnings.

Happy New Year to all of you! I am so excited to start the New Year off with Mid-Winter Conference in Tupelo, January 24-26, 2025. At our Mid-Winter meeting, I will recognize three Auxiliary members who have really shone in promoting our scholarships. I won’t reveal who they are on here – you must come to Mid-Winter to find out! I plan to give each one a small token of my appreciation for their scholarship promotion.

On Saturday, January 25, we will recognize our Department Voice of Democracy winner at our Mid-Winter Banquet. As an auxiliary, we assisted VFW with promoting their scholarships, as well as collecting the essays and judging them. We have also assisted the VFW in recognizing and rewarding the winners with certificates and trophies/plaques.

Our next scholarship deadline is February 15, 2025. The Continuing Education Scholarship is available for VFW Auxiliary members and their immediate family members. The auxiliary member must have been a member for at least 1 year. Only their immediate family members (self, spouse, and children) are eligible to apply. Four (4) recipients are chosen each year by the National VFW Auxiliary. Each of these recipients represents the four conferences in the VFW and its Auxiliary: Big 10, Southern, Western, and Eastern. The award amount is $1250 and is paid directly to the university, college, or trade school of the recipient’s choice.

Please encourage local youth, grades 9-12 to apply for the Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest and the 3-Dimensional Patriotic Art Contest. Go online to MALTA, under Resources, and request brochures that give more details of these two contests. These brochures are sent to you free of charge. Share the brochures with local art teachers, church youth leaders, youth organizations, and your family members in grades 9-12. This is another great opportunity for our youth to demonstrate their patriotic values through art.

Just a friendly reminder of future deadlines:

· February 15, 2025 – Continuing Education Scholarship for VFW Auxiliary members and immediate family (spouse and children)

· March 31, 2025 – Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest (grades 9-12)

· March 31, 2025 – 3-Dimensional Patriotic Art Contest (grades 9-12)

Youth Jan 25

Beth Crow 662-522-9481 email

Happy New Year. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year brings you many blessings. It is time to really crank up our efforts promoting the Illustrating America Contest. All of your promotional materials, rules, and applications can be found in MALTA under Member Resources Youth Program. Please print out new applications as there have been changes to the rules this year. The student’s name, age, and grade level must be printed on the back of the entry and mats are no longer required to be white. March 31 will be here before you know it.

This month’s SWAP is from St. James Wright, VFW Auxiliary 5397. The VFW and Auxiliary jointly hosted a tea entitled Cupcakes and Conversation. The members met with a troop of 16 Girl Scouts. The subject was career goals and educational requirements for different career paths. This is a great example of mentorship for our young people. I’m sure a lot of knowledge was shared and both the adults and the young people benefited from the experience.

Don’t forget the deadline to apply for the Youth Activities National Program Award is March 31. The form can be found under Youth Activities in MALTA.

Please keep emailing your Youth Activities so that I can feature them in our monthly newsletter. My email is . Thank you!

Aux Outreach Dec 24

Michele Brinson 901-734-8160 email

Hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving. Before we know it, Christmas and the New Year will be here. As you know, this time of year is filled with so many wonderful opportunities to volunteer and partner with organizations to help others; for example: serving meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas, collecting coats for kids, sorting gifts for the Angel Tree program, packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, helping with Breakfast with Santa programs, and so much more. Also, there is also still a need for volunteers to collect and pack donations for the Hurricane Helene and Milton victims. 

Bambi Johnson, our National Auxiliary Outreach Ambassador, is asking each Department Ambassador to share some of the most outstanding projects and send her one or two of our best examples of our members partnering with other organizations by January 10, 2025. She plans to share this with everyone during the Mid-Winter Conference. So, I can’t wait to see your reports and pictures of all of your amazing volunteer activities. 

As a reminder, this year’s theme is From Our Roots to Our Branches, Extending Service To Our Veterans (and to their families, our communities, and to organizations within our communities). So, let’s take another look at what Auxiliary Outreach is and what your auxiliary can do to help make a difference and to help others. 

Steps to a Successful Auxiliary Outreach Project: 

– Vote and approve a motion to provide assistance and partner with other organizations in your community in your meeting and record that approval in your meeting minutes. Approval should occur prior to the outreach activity except on rare occasions such as a natural disaster or emergency. You can do this where it covers all activities/ partnerships for the entire year or prior to each activity/partnership as they occur. 

Partner with organizations that could use assistance. 

– At least one Auxiliary member must participate in order to be counted as auxiliary outreach, and projects may be done by only the Auxiliary or together with the VFW Post.

Wear VFW Auxiliary attire while participating (shirt, hat, name badge, lanyard, etc.). 

Take pictures of all the amazing things you are doing in your communities and share with other auxiliaries, your Department Historian, National Headquarters, and with me. 

Count all volunteer hours (but not monetary donations). 

Share information about the VFW Auxiliary; i.e., what we do, why we do it, how someone can become a member, etc. 

What’s Considered Auxiliary Outreach: 

Projects not affiliated with the VFW or VFW Auxiliary

Volunteer your time to collect needed items for organizations who serve the community. 

Participate in walks that benefit other organizations such as an event spotter, water station volunteer, timekeeper, etc. ( etc. – Partner with animal shelters by volunteering to help clean kennels, walk animals, collect bedding, cleaning supplies, dog/cat food, leashes, etc. 

Partner with homeless shelters by serving food, bussing tables, cleaning up, etc. 

Partner with food pantries/banks or Meals on Wheels to stock shelves, pack food boxes, serve food, pass out food boxes, deliver meals, etc. 

Partner with the Red Cross or other groups at their blood drives. 

Partner with organizations that provide clothing, household goods, furniture, appliances, bedding, etc., by sorting items, passing out items, collecting needed items, etc.; such as House of Grace, Hope Ministries, Sacred Heart, etc. 

Partner with organizations that provide medical equipment; i.e., wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, etc., by collecting needed items. 

Partner with a church hosting a community-wide event Easter egg hunt, trunk or treat, breakfast with Santa; Vacation Bible School, fall festivals, health screenings, etc. 

Auxiliary Outreach Program Award: 

Most outstanding photo collage created by the VFW Auxiliary of their auxiliary Outreach partnerships during the current Program Year. Citation and $25 to one VFW Auxiliary in each of the 10 Program Divisions that creates the most outstanding photo collage of their VFW Auxiliary partnerships during the current Program Year. 

Thank you to Auxiliaries 3036, 7531, 9832, and 12124 for all that you are doing and for reporting your activities. As a reminder, please submit your reports and include the number of volunteers, the number of hours spent volunteering, and the name of the organization you helped. 

Also, please be sure to send pictures of your auxiliary activities to me and to Lisa D. Mayer-Thompson, our Historian, on or before January 10, 2025.

If anyone has any questions or needs assistance, please feel free to contact me. May God bless each of you and your families and help us to continue to bless others. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year