Vietnam veteran Tony Blount remembers when he and his late wife, Amy, went through hard times when they were younger. The couple – both of whom were 100 percent disabled veterans – had to utilize food banks to make ends meet.

When the duo had the opportunity to give back, they formed West Plains Angels out of Cheney, Washington, to help other veterans, schools, food banks and other groups.

“We just wanted to give back,” said Blount, junior vice commander of VFW Post 11326 in Cheney. “We were finally in a position to give back, so we did.”

Earlier this year, Blount started a mobile pet pantry. He travels to the various food banks in surrounding communities on food distribution days to give out pet supplies to those with furry companions at home.

With the help of his fellow VFW members donating their time to distribute pet food among other items, Blount has donated 2,500 pounds of pet food and nearly $2,000 in leashes and harnesses. He gives pets toys, too.

“This pet pantry has been deeply well-received,” Blount said. “So many of the people going out to these pantries cannot afford to buy pet food. But oftentimes, their pets are their only source of companionship. I find it curious that the more we gift and give, the more we receive.”

Blount said he is not much into computers or tweeting or texting. Instead, his focus is to “compound the good,” which just happens to be the motto of West Plains Angels.

“My wife of 50 years died two years ago,” Blount said. “I do this in memory of my most beloved wife, Amy. The day I met her at Travis Air Force Base, she wrote in her diary, ‘Today I met the boy I am going to marry.'”

VFW Post 11326 Commander Rick Mattausch describes Blount as “dynamic.” Mattausch and his wife have both volunteered their time at the mobile pet pantry.

“Tony is kind of a saint, really,” Mattausch said. “He’s always working to help the people of the community.”

The Post gives Blount Buddy Poppies, which he distributes when giving away pet supplies. Mattausch said he’s pretty sure Blount has distributed more Poppies than anyone else in their VFW District. He also accepts donations on behalf of the VFW.

“The work he is doing is important,” Mattausch said. “He is helping people who are having a hard time making ends meet and preventing them from having to give away their pets. It is not often you meet someone like Tony.”

This article is featured in the January 2024 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Janie Dyhouse, senior editor for VFW magazine.

Tillie Bobby and her family spent 80 years piecing together the vague details around her uncle’s death during World War II, clinging to a citation that simply stated he was killed at sea. But in 2022, while browsing the Find a Grave database online, Bobby and her husband, Roger, of Port Sanilac, Michigan, discovered a link between Tillie’s uncle’s death and the British troopship HMT Rohna.

“We got married 53 years ago, and I had just thought her uncle, Ralph, died at sea by having his plane shot down or something,” said Roger, a VFW Post 8872 commander in their hometown of Port Sanilac. “Finding out that he was on the HMT Rohna led us to finding The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association and learning about the cause of his death.”

Pvt. Ralph Sitter was born on July 7, 1909, in Strasburg, North Dakota, and later moved to Washington state for work before joining the Army Air Force. He was among the 793 Air Corps 853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion servicemen aboard the Rohna on Nov. 26, 1943, when a German aircraft sank the vessel off the coast of Algeria in the Mediterranean Sea.

At the time, the U.S. War Department had withheld details from the public due to the then-new radio-guided bombs used in the attack, according to details the Bobbys found on the Rohna Survivors Memorial Association website. Believed to be the largest loss of Army servicemen at sea in a single attack, it killed 1,015 of the 2,000 Army Air Corps servicemen aboard that day.

When Congress publicly recognized the sinking of the Rohna in October 2000, the families of the deceased had been kept in the dark for decades and even the survivors, who had been held to secrecy, struggled to prove the event had taken place.

“Little is known about the Rohna in the public consciousness as a result, and it is something that does not get talked about or taught in schools,” Roger said. “It was such a huge loss of American lives, and the fact is that the families did not know what happened for more than 50 years. Some family members went to the grave not knowing what happened to their loved ones.”

To do right by her uncle after discovering the details of his death, the Bobbys requested an official VA-issued marker in June 2022. But since Sitter had had a stone on a family plot in a Strasburg cemetery, the VA denied the request that August.

“The regulations are that if the deceased died before 1990 and there is a marker of some sort, the VA would deny it,” Roger said. “So we just went ahead and had our own marker made to look like the VA-issued marker, with the same dimensions, and added ‘HMT Rohna casualty.'”

The Bobbys then orchestrated a VFW-style funeral ceremony to honor Sitter and others who perished aboard the Rohna on Nov. 26, 1943. They traveled from Port Sanilac to Strasburg and held the ceremony on July 1 at the Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Strasburg, where Tillie’s parents and grandparents also are buried.

The ceremony was conducted by an honor guard from the North Dakota National Guard, and more than 70 guests attended the event, which included VFW Posts in North Dakota whose members sat among Tillie’s family to honor Sitter and others who lost their lives on the Rohna.

“My wife is the youngest of 16 children, and her mother was Ralph’s sister,” Roger said. “Aside from the nice ceremony we were able to give him, the real closure was that it answered a lot of questions about Uncle Ralph for my wife and her siblings. They got to uncover what the citation really meant when it said, ‘killed at sea.'”

This article is featured in the January 2024 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Ismael Rodriguez Jr., senior writer for VFW magazine.

Members of VFW Post 10380 in Green Township, Ohio, partnered with Wreaths Across America to lay 500 wreaths in a ceremony at their local Bridgetown Cemetery on Dec. 16.

Led by location coordinator Bill Ostermeyer, Post 10380 welcomed more than 70 guests to their ceremony at Bridgetown Cemetery, where they laid 500 wreaths on the graves of local veterans from a slew of wars and conflicts dating as far back as the Civil War.

“The VFW believes in honoring all those who have served before us, and that is something we at Post 10380 take pride in doing,” Ostermeyer said. “I would add, as a member of the VFW Honor Guard, that we participate in funerals where you realize a lot of these graves have not been visited in 100 or more years, so it is nice to do things like this.”

Ostermeyer added his Post partnered with Wreaths Across America following a touching ceremony he and his wife attended at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, renowned for being the third largest cemetery in the country.

“It was hosted by Daughters of America, and I remember thinking ‘this is something we should be doing for our local cemetery,'” Ostermeyer said.

Ostermeyer assumed the role of location coordinator and worked closely with Wreaths Across America, joining Post members in honoring 250 veteran graves at a section of Bridgetown Cemetery in December 2022.

“We purchased 250 wreaths our first year because we were unsure how many veterans were buried there,” Ostermeyer said. “But when we went out before the ceremony and identified the veterans’ graves, we found out we were way short.”

Motivated to honor all veterans at Bridgetown Cemetery last year, Ostermeyer purchased 500 wreaths for the ceremony on Dec. 16.

Last year, the Post also welcomed a volunteer fourth-grade class from nearby St. Aloysius Gonzaga School two days before the ceremony to help them identify the graves of veterans at Bridgetown Cemetery in accordance with VFW’s longtime beliefs.

“Remember, honor and teaching are things the VFW aspires to do,” Ostermeyer said. “What better way to do that than this. Many of the kids even took notes on the headstones they found, and some helped us clean those headstones.”

On the day of the ceremony, Ostermeyer surprised the guests by hosting several Gold Star family members whom he tasked with the honor of placing one of the eight ceremonial wreaths that represent each branch of service.

“Placing the ceremonial wreaths is important to me,” Ostermeyer said. “We had the family of Marine Sgt. David Kreuter of Cincinnati, who was killed in Iraq, do us the honor of placing the wreath for the Marine Corps this year. I think having that element adds to the ceremony.”

For December 2024, Ostermeyer and Post 10380 have already placed an order for 650 wreaths, hoping to lay one by all the veterans graves at Bridgetown Cemetery.

For the past nine years, VFW Post 311’s emphasis on higher education has led to more than $30,000 in scholarships awarded to high school seniors with family ties to veterans in Richton Park, Illinois.

What began in August 2014 with three $1,000 scholarships, the Benjamin O. Davis Post 311 Commander’s Scholarship program has since awarded up to six $1,000 scholarships a year to more than 30 recipients.

“It’s our way of giving back to the descendants of veterans and helping our future leaders,” VFW Post 311 Commander Aretha Spurlock said. “We want to show the community and our young adults that we are still here serving in a positive way. Maybe this inspires them to go on and join the military, or maybe it leads them to support veterans in some capacity.”

The applicants each year are screened by the Post’s scholarship committee, which includes past and current educators and professionals, to ensure they meet the primary requirements to compete. They are then judged on academic transcripts, community involvement and letters of recommendation from high school and community leaders.

Akin to VFW’s national Voice of Democracy contest, Post 311’s scholarship committee also assigns an annual essay theme for participants.

“The students are graduating seniors, and they are asked as a part of their applications to write an essay with the theme being a topic of Americanism or democracy,” VFW Post 311 Quartermaster Arnold Taylor said. “We then review and score their essays and evaluate their personal interviews with the committee.”

As is customary, the 2023 recipients were announced on July 10 during Post 311’s “Commander’s Ball,” where the winners read their respective essays to a crowd of VFW members and guests.

The 2023 winners included local seniors Arthur Levi McFadden III and Myia Williams. McFadden, a graduate of Crete-Monee High School in Crete, Illinois, started this fall at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, while Williams, a Thornwood High School graduate in South Holland, Illinois, is attending Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans.

Post 311 members have already begun fundraising for the 2024 Benjamin O. Davis Post 311 Commander’s Scholarship contest, which opens in April to participants.

“The VFW states that the true character of America is measured by her communities and the people who work to improve them,” Spurlock said. “We are a VSO that not only supports veterans, but we support the entire veteran family and dependents. Our goal is to continue to positively show up.”

This article is featured in the January 2024 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Ismael Rodriguez Jr., senior writer for VFW magazine.

Growing up in the small community of Cape May, New Jersey, Gabrielle Masterson had a fascination with outer space. More focused on the arts and less on math and science, Masterson would paint pictures of space and the planets.

“I found space amazing and terrifying at the same time,” Masterson said.

During her junior and senior years of high school, Masterson began taking advanced placement math and science classes.

She had a goal of going to college to study physics after she graduated high school in 2018. Getting there, she knew, was not going to be easy with the cost of college tuition.

Masterson said her guidance counselor spoke to her about multiple awards and scholarships for which she could apply. One of those was the Citizenship Award sponsored by Cape May’s VFW Post 386.

She wrote an essay describing how one day she hoped to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Masterson’s essay was selected, and she earned a $500 award to help her get started at the University of Kentucky.

After a year of studying physics, Masterson changed her major to computer engineering with a double minor in physics and computer science. She had graduate school on her radar after graduation in the spring of 2022.

“Just for fun, I decided to apply to NASA,” Masterson said. “I was hired and started in June.”

Masterson is a CRONUS flight controller at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. There, she coordinates communication between the space station and mission control. One of her areas of focus is monitoring video and audio messages.

“Getting out of my comfort zone communication-wise has been the most challenging aspect, but also the most rewarding,” Masterson said. “Growing up, I was a very shy person. Public speaking was the most difficult part of high school for me.”

Masterson said she loves the diversity and hustle and bustle of life in Houston, which is worlds away from her hometown seaside community of less than 3,000 people.

She said she has not and will not forget the kindness of those who helped her fulfill her lifelong goals. To that end, Masterson sent a postcard to the Cape May VFW to thank the members for the award they gave her.

“I knew that college was going to be hard on my own, even with my family helping me as much as they could,” Masterson said. “I worked so hard applying for different scholarships. I was so grateful for each scholarship no matter the amount.”

According to VFW Post 386 Life member Andy Barber, the members were excited to see the postcard from Masterson arrive. Along with a photo provided by her parents, the postcard is framed and hangs inside the Post.

“You would have thought we gave her $1 million,” Barber said. “This postcard is so touching. It is great she reached out after the fact for such a small amount. This girl is such a special person.”

Barber said that the Post has given out up to $12,000 in scholarships to the three schools in the Cape May area. The Veterans Home Association runs the Post canteen, which, Barber added, assists in providing the funds for scholarships.

The Post, which counts 215 members, relies on the schools’ guidance counselors when it comes to naming recipients.

“We have faith in the guidance counselors,” Barber said. “They are familiar with the students’ volunteer and community service work in addition to their grades.”

Barber added that the Post has sent VFW items to Masterson and let her know she is welcome to come to the Post any time she is back home in New Jersey.

“They had a piece in my journey of me getting to where I am,” Masterson said. “I have my dream job, and I will always be grateful to them.”

This article is featured in the January 2024 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Janie Dyhouse, senior editor for VFW magazine.

Since the VFW’s inception nearly 125 years ago, its members’ pursuance to help communities ravaged by natural disasters remains undeterred.

Under the VFW mantle, veterans from across the country annually carry out missions to combat the harsh aftermath of floods, wildfires, typhoons or hurricanes ravaging communities.

Most recently, in early August, when wildfires ravaged portions of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands, VFW members worked together to provide relief. Especially impacted by the fires was Lahaina, once the capital of Hawaii.

VFW Post 3850 on Maui quickly mobilized as a distribution point for community members.

Post 3850 Commander Alton Sanders said the VFW team of volunteers has done everything they know to do to help, including offering a caring shoulder.

Sanders noted one veteran who got in touch with the Post for assistance. The vet had lost his wife in the fire and was still in shock. In planning her funeral, he realized he had nothing to wear to her funeral. Sanders made sure he had what he needed. Most importantly, Sanders said, was just “being there” for the veteran to talk about his wife.

“Some of these stories are mind-blowing,” Sanders said. “It is like a war zone here with no bullets.”

VFW volunteers have partnered with the local Sea Cadets and their parents in picking up 14-15 pallets of supplies, which are delivered to the Post and inventoried.

Then, when people come to the Post home or call, volunteers will know if they have what is needed.

“We are trying to keep this organized because this is going to be a long haul,” Sanders said. “If someone is unable to find a ride to the Post to pick up supplies, one of us delivers to wherever they are staying.”

Being on the opposite side of the island from where the fires spread, Post 3850 was unscathed. However, one of the Post members living in Lahaina lost everything in the fire, according to Sanders.

“Lahaina is the heart of the island,” Sanders said. “It is devastating the way he went up in flames. I have visited 49 of the 50 states, and I have never seen a community come together like Maui has.”

Here is a look back at some disaster relief endeavors performed by VFW members over the past couple of years.

‘NO BOUNDARIES’ WHEN IT COMES TO SERVING
On Dec. 10, 2021, a tornado ripped through multiple towns in Kentucky, killing 57 people and injuring hundreds more. As VFW members do, they quickly organized efforts to help those affected.

A relentless network of VFW Post members in Kentucky answered the call to action, quickly creating fundraising efforts, food and supply storage as well as driving in and out of the areas hit hardest to provide such relief.

VFW Post 1170 in Louisville, Kentucky, organized to gather and transport supplies to Bowling Green, one of the communities in the path of destruction.

“I drove a truck down as Post and Auxiliary members would load the other truck,” then-VFW Post 1170 Commander Calvin Shaak Jr. said. “So I was able to jump into the now full truck and go again.”

Shaak worked closely with then-VFW Post 1298 Commander Glenn Skaggs in Bowling Green.

“Glenn set up his Post as a distribution point, working around the clock to ensure people who needed anything could get it,” Shaak said. “He worked tirelessly, receiving, unloading and coordinating to get added help and storage containers as support was coming in quicker than he could get it out at first. He also worked with local government offices to get supplies to people in need.”

This network of Posts answered the call to action once again when an unfortunate cycle of flash flooding happened between late July and early August 2022.

“We are not only here for veterans, but to serve the community in their time of need,” then-VFW Department of Kentucky Commander Nathan Sesco said at the time. “Commander Ryan Buchanan with VFW Post 6291 helped bring in supplies, and I know Post 5829 Quartermaster Tony Adams and Kentucky State Police trooper Jay Perkins from Post 1178 in Harlan were in the water on boats and rescued more than 20 people in Whitesburg.”

In the days following the December 2021 tornado in Kentucky, the Department of Michigan raised and donated $17,000, as well as two semitrucks and three trailer loads of emergency supplies worth about $500,000.

A few months later, then-Department of Michigan Commander Kevin Conklin attended the Department of Kentucky’s Mid-Winter Conference to present more donations from Michigan Posts, which totaled more than $18,000.

This effort was spearheaded by VFW Post 1138 in Monroe, Michigan, with the backing of Conklin and other Department of Michigan officers who traveled to Kentucky with the supplies.

“It’s all one organization regardless of geography,” Conklin said. “There are no boundaries for a veteran to serve another veteran.”

‘WE TAKE CARE OF OUR NEIGHBORS’
When Hurricane Ida struck the Louisiana coastline in August 2021, causing the most widespread damage to the state since the infamous Hurricane Katrina in 2005, several VFW Posts from across the state provided a local lifeline for many.

In New Orleans, then-VFW Post 8973 Commander Chris Cox prepared for the worst, anticipating his Post would serve as an anchor of hope for fellow Louisianans once the hurricane passed.

“Down here in Louisiana, we take care of our neighbors,” said Cox, a retired Marine Corps master sergeant with more than 20 years in the service.

“It’s not about being the hero of the neighborhood. It’s a matter of caring for each other.”

Through word of mouth and Cox’s connections within the community, the Post secured ample donations from residents and restaurants. Among the donations were freezers, refrigerators, food and supplies.

“We were taking whatever we got and turning it into meals,” Cox said. “For anyone passing by, work crews, tired residents cleaning up their damaged homes, we were there. For many, this was the first hot meal they had in days.”

For multiple days, Post members served lunch and dinner, distributing more than 1,800 meals to those in need. The Post also secured more than $25,000 worth of food, fuel, dry goods, baby food and sanitary supplies, which they distributed throughout the areas outside of New Orleans hardest hit by Hurricane Ida.

“Disasters like this are a very familiar environment to veterans,” Cox added. “Lots of us have provided humanitarian relief in the Middle East, Haiti and other places, so we know how to do this.”

Like the efforts in New Orleans, Post 7286 in Covington, Louisiana, opened its doors to locals in need of food, water, electricity and shelter for those needing a place to rest.

“Our doors were open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Post 7286 Commander Michael Henry. “We wanted to let our community know that they were not in this fight alone. We got your back.”

In West St. Charles, Louisiana, VFW Post 3750 was severely damaged but was still up and running as a community distribution location. With donated food, Post members also prepared meals for first responders, out-of-town linemen and residents. Louisiana’s District 5 also donated supplies to the Post to aid in relief efforts.

VFW POST SERVES AS EMERGENCY SHELTER
It is through word of mouth and a reputation for serving their community that members of VFW Post 2290 in Manville, New Jersey, were called upon in the wake of severe flooding and fires.

Although Hurricane Ida made landfall near the Gulf of Mexico, the remnants of the hurricane reached Manville, about 40 miles southwest of Newark, New Jersey, where floodwaters led to gas-fed fires and left many areas unreachable.

In desperate need of help, the Manville Off ice of Emergency Management and the Red Cross called on Post 2290 to serve as a distribution
center and later an emergency shelter for those in need of a place to rest.

“Because of the location of the Post, which is above the area that normally floods and the large size of our building, it makes us an ideal distribution center,” said then-Post 2290 Commander Andy Henkel. “More importantly, we follow the motto ‘No One Does More.’ “

Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, the Post received an overwhelming amount of donations ranging from clothing, food, and water to infant supplies and cleaning materials. With distribution help from its members, Auxiliary and other local volunteers, the Post provided two meals daily and at one point harbored more than 340 people in need of a place to sleep.

“In the almost 90 years of our existence, we have been fortunate to be in a position to assist those who have suffered major disasters,” Henkel added.

“In our most recent past, I can remember Hurricane Floyd, Irene and Sandy. We were open for various numbers of days and housed and fed comparable numbers of residents. So for us, this is normal, though unfortunate.”

VETERANS ‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’
When an EF-3-rated tornado devastated the Nashville, Tennessee, area and killed at least 25 people in the early morning hours of March 3, 2020, VFW Post 1970 in West Nashville immediately started disaster relief efforts.

“We got the word out to receive donations on social media and by contacting Nashville media outlets,” then-Post 1970 Commander John Lambert said. “We received many donations. Most of them came from people who said they heard about our efforts from the TV and radio stations.”

Lambert said his Post was able to quickly organize because of social media outlets.

“I would say that the best way to communicate information to the public during a disaster is through social media,” he said. “It’s a media source that you can control, and people can spread the word for you. It’s the easiest way to quickly get the word out to a large amount of people.”

Lambert said there were about 25 volunteers from the VFW Department of Tennessee; the Department’s Districts 6 and 7; Post 6022 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and other organizations.

Donnie Nelson, then-commander of Post 6022, said that when he learned about the Nashville tornado, he wanted to help with any VFW-led relief efforts.

“Our mission at VFW is to help veterans, and that is what we strive to do,” Nelson said. “As veterans, it helps us to continue to serve.”

These stories exemplify how time and again VFW members rally against danger to protect, care for and lend a hand to those in need. As recorded in an American Report by the Corporation for National and Community Service, veterans are 25 percent more likely to volunteer, 17 percent more likely to make a monetary donation and 30 percent more likely to participate in local organizations than civilians without military experience. At the VFW, that spirit is alive and well.

This article is featured in the November/December 2023 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Janie Dyhouse, senior editor for VFW magazine.

VFW members around the world delved into VFW’s second annual Day of Service this year, an initiative to engage veterans, service members and local advocates in a widespread attempt to make a meaningful impact in their communities.

This year’s Day of Service built on the success of its inaugural event last year, growing its total number of grassroots events by more than 20 percent. VFW Posts in all 50 states, as well as those in Europe, Guam, the Philippines, Mexico and Puerto Rico, participated.

The results of this year’s Day of Service stemmed from a decision by VFW to expand and begin outreach months earlier. VFW National Headquarters alerted members with information in VFW magazine and through a robust social media campaign.

With the Day of Service hashtag used more than 3.3 million times across social and traditional media, the gospel of what VFW does in and around their communities spread universally, as more than 700 Posts around the world participated.

The following are a few examples of VFW Posts whose work was praised on local TV, in newspapers and on social media platforms for their extensive work in and around their communities on VFW’s 2023 Day of Service.

‘WE HAD A LOT OF SUPPORT’
Members of All-American VFW Post 9167 in Princeton, Texas, led several service projects that targeted their community throughout VFW’s Day of Service on May 6.

Post 9167 garnered more than 72 volunteers and 31 additional supporters in a widespread effort to serve and enhance their community.

“We had a lot of support to make this happen,” then-VFW Post 9167 Commander Preston Callaway said. “We received help from churches, city, chamber, schools and other groups in town. The mayor and city council and chamber of commerce all were glad to be a part of it.”

VFW members carried out several beautification projects that included repairing and polishing headstones at Princeton Cemetery and cleaning the town’s Veterans Memorial Park.

They also joined the Princeton Fire Department in brush clearing to protect neighborhoods from grass fires, as well as joining local nonprofit chapters to build homes with Habitat for Humanity and deliver meals through Meals on Wheels America.

“We all split up into groups and worked together with each project by having a VFW Post 9167 member in each group to be the point of contact,” Callaway said. “Everyone bought in and helped where they could.”

In conducting their Day of Service, Post 9167 members enlisted help from the local JROTC and Scout troops to pass down mentorship and ideals in what it means to serve one’s country and community.

The Post also partnered with the local First Baptist Church to use its facility for free health screenings and a blood drive that garnered 21 pints of blood. The Post also provided career resources through the Texas Workforce Commission and free haircuts through VFW’s partnership with Sports Clips.

“I was deeply grateful for all the community members who came out to help,” Callaway said. “I already look forward to next year.”

BEDS FOR NEEDY CHILDREN
VFW Post 1264 in Roanoke, Virginia, conducted its Day of Service, alongside its Auxiliary, by building 30 beds for children in need. Post members received help from the Roanoke Battalion Sea Cadets and other community members on May 6.

The Post sponsored the event by providing $6,000 toward Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a global nonprofit with chapters across the U.S. that focuses on building beds for children in need of the proper physical, emotional and mental support a bed offers.

“Everybody had a great time, and there was not a single face without a smile on it,” said Lloyd Nolan Jackson, a Post trustee. “By supporting this bed build, we were able to get 30 children off the floor or sofa into a bed of their own. For many of them, it was their first bed.”

Joining the Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter in Roanoke, about 170 miles west of Richmond, Virginia, members of Post 1264 joined their 77 enlisted volunteers
in building and furnishing the 30 bunk beds throughout the day.

“Unfortunately, there will always be children in need of a safe and comfortable place to sleep,” Jackson said. “That’s why we must continue.”

‘PERSPECTIVE AND TEAMWORK’
For their VFW Day of Service this May, VFW Post 1533 members in San Antonio split their time into two volunteer sessions at the San Antonio Food Bank.

A cohort of 18 Post members spent more than three hours apiece on May 16 and May 19 working out of the San Antonio Food Bank’s warehouse, sorting and packing food for those suffering from food insecurity.

“Our Day of Service was spent in a warehouse working with fellow volunteers from across our community who were equally committed to fighting hunger,” VFW Post 1533 Judge Advocate General Suzzie Thomas said. “By luck and good fortune, we were joined by high school students, volunteers from USAA and a large group of Navy chiefs.”

VFW Post 1533 also donated $500 toward the Food Bank, helping provide more than 3,500 meals for the community, an additional token of their mission.

“VFW’s Day of Service is about perspective and teamwork,” Thomas said. “We can all get caught up in our daily grind and life’s challenges, so it is important to make the time and have a reason to come together as a team to make a positive impact.”

Adding to their efforts during this year’s Day of Service, Post 1533 members went beyond the month of May and remained involved with the food bank throughout the summer. In July, they also hosted a food and pet drive at their Post, managing to donate an additional 1,072 food items to the San Antonio Food Bank.

This article is featured in the November/December 2023 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Ismael Rodriguez Jr., senior writer for VFW magazine.

For their Day of Service this year, VFW Post 10519 members spearheaded a community blood drive that helped provide for 81 patients across the Milwaukee area.

The Post, 11 miles southwest of Milwaukee in Greendale, Wisconsin, had been deciding on its second-annual VFW Day of Service project when members were contacted by representatives from Versiti, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit blood center.

“They approached us and told us of the shortage of blood in the Milwaukee area,” VFW Post 10519 Senior Vice Commander Kristin Dodds said. “Versiti donations go to multiple hospitals including the VA medical center in Milwaukee, so it was a great way to connect the community to the VFW and veterans by filling an urgent need.”

Post 10519 members accepted the challenge and began an advertising campaign to recruit donors prior to VFW’s Day of Service on May 6. The Post and its Auxiliary also worked with several community organizations and businesses to spread the word and accrue donations.

In orchestrating the event, Post 10519 received a $500 donation from Humana, a longtime VFW partner, as well as blood donors from Greendale staples that included the Broad Street Coffee Company, American Legion Post 416, Lions Club and St. Alphonsus Church.

When the event began on May 6, the Post hosted the blood drive at the building they share with Legion Post 416, handling all the logistics and allowing Versiti to collect the blood from 26 donors that included 11 Post and Auxiliary members.

“We conducted donor check-ins and also collected food items for Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative’s emergency food program,” Dodds said. “The event was successful enough that Versiti asked us to host another blood drive in the fall.”

Working with the same businesses and organizations in Greendale, VFW Post 10519 members hosted their second blood drive in September. They welcomed 20 donors and helped Versiti raise blood to help 57 Milwaukee patients.

Dodds credited VFW’s Day of Service for the flourishing partnership with Versiti, who has expressed a desire to continue to work alongside Post 10519 to help field blood donations for those in need around Milwaukee.

“It is important for VFW Posts to participate in the Day of Service campaign because the events create opportunities to connect with other local organizations for the betterment of their communities,” Dodds said. “Additionally, the Day of Service is a platform for VFW Posts to talk within their communities about the great work we do year-round and not just in May.”

A VFW Post in San Antonio is doing their part when it comes to fighting food insecurity in its community.

Since July, VFW Post 8397 in San Antonio has distributed about 43,000 pounds of groceries to food-insecure families in the San Antonio area. In partnership with Humana, the Post holds a food distribution drive for needy families on the second Saturday of each month.

Cris Vieyra, a past VFW Post 8397 commander, said the VFW Post has held these events for about three years with the help of the San Antonio Food Bank. Additionally, Vieyra said the Post has received help from local JROTC youth to help with the distribution.

“We hand out a variety of food, including frozen dinners, canned foods, fresh fruits and meats such as chicken, fish and beef,” Vieyra said. “We try our best to help as many families as we can. All of us enjoy what we do.”

At distribution events, Humana-organized volunteers, as well as Post and Auxiliary members, provide help to the “long lines” of families who need help, Vieyra said. Humana’s efforts are led by Andrea Ortiz, a veterans community engagement executive with Humana and a member of VFW Post 7108 (also located in San Antonio).

Since 2018, VFW has worked with Humana for the Uniting to Combat Hunger campaign. The program was established to fight hunger and food insecurity across the country.

According to statistics from Feeding America, about 1-in-4 Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans are affected by food insecurity. In the general population, about 1-in-10 households experience food insecurity.

Vieyra said the community’s reaction to the food donations has been “incredible” to see.

“The people who we help often volunteer to help us distribute food to others,” Vieyra said. “It’s amazing to see how grateful they are.”

VFW Post 8397 recently utilized a $1,500 VFW Foundation grant for its work with the food bank. Since 2021, the VFW Foundation has offered grants to VFW Posts and Auxiliaries supporting the Uniting to Combat Hunger campaign. For every dollar raised by local VFW Posts and Auxiliaries, the VFW Foundation will match the full amount up to $1,500. Uniting to Combat Hunger grant applications are available at vfw.org/UTCH.

Long before becoming commander of the first VFW Post established on an active-duty U.S. military installation last year, Willie Keller had seen the possibilities with a credulous eye.

Joined by other founding members of Post 12209 on Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) near Killeen, Texas, Keller set out to serve as an example of how a VFW Post on an active military installation can help troops and their families more effectively.

“I wish I had that for me when I was coming up,” said Keller, a 16-year Army veteran who joined VFW in 1995. “It not only helps with recruitment, but it puts us in a position to shed light on stuff that is not getting lit up.”

Since finding its home at Fort Cavazos’ Building 18000 on Jan. 7, 2022, Post 12209’s membership has more than tripled its roster. The Post boosted its numbers from 48 in July
2022 to more than 153 members as of this August, according to Keller.

“And we haven’t dropped the hammer on membership yet,” said Keller, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq before being medically retired in 2009. “The people we have come to us about joining is because of what they see from us.”

Over the last year, Post 12209 has provided more than $180,000 worth of assistance to service members and their families by tapping into VFW’s well of programs and services. This includes the Military Assistance Program, which provides Posts with grants to help active-duty troops, as well as Unmet Needs grants for military families with financial difficulties.

Unable to host fundraisers on base, Keller added that other sources come from his own members, private donors and the VFW Department of Texas Foundation.

“There’s no regulation on how to show empathy for these service members and their families, but we try to be there for all of them,” said Keller, who also partakes in advocacy projects, which includes a new bill passed this year to increase the slots for child care at Fort Cavazos. Keller acted on this after hearing from an active-duty single mother.

“We ask people to serve, but they can’t because they need assistance to serve,” Keller added. “We have been an outlet to help fix these problems by going and advocating for more legislative funding.”

Another beacon has been VFW’s Adopt-a-Unit program, which to date has allowed Post 12209 to adopt more than 29 military units comprising thousands of troops at Fort Cavazos.

From cookouts to care packages to simply treating families to a free meal, Keller added that being on base to see the impact of the VFW makes it worth the countless hours he puts in every day.

“When you’re in uniform, it’s your job to care,” Keller said. “But we don’t get paid. This is something we do for them. They see this. The highlight for me is seeing them realize that someone really cares. It’s a good feeling to even see generals on base stop to thank us for what we’ve done.”

Though Keller and his Post members have accomplished much in record time, he admits they are far from complacent. The Post is committed on several fronts, which includes advocating for a more efficient way to use the military’s Transition Assistance Program (TAP), as well as working closely with JROTC and ROTC programs around Texas.

“You can start your transition 12 months out, but mission dictates,” Keller said. “Some have less time to transition. And for some who are institutionalized for 20-30 years, it is not that simple to transition when they used to be a voice of leadership before, and now they are just a number in the civilian world. One of our priority goals is to extract career service members out of their unit and put them on a transitional unit as soon as possible.”

When Keller is not running around conducting business, he admits basking in the gratitude of service members on base who routinely call him and his Post members to talk and thank them for guidance and career advice. Armed with extensive knowledge of VFW’s history, Keller dispenses praise for his organization whenever given the chance.

“It’s valuable to know the history of VFW,” Keller said. “I just let them know why they should join the organization that has been there for them, with them now, and will be with them in the future. A lot of them don’t know some of the stuff service members have now in terms of benefits came from the VFW being in the trenches for them.”

With membership being a byproduct of Post 12209’s assistance and proximity to those in uniform today, Keller also has a lofty goal regarding this particular area.

“We want to be the largest VFW Post in the world in 36 months,” Keller said. “Like I mentioned before, we haven’t dropped the hammer on membership yet. What made us increase our membership has been the influence of our work alone.”

This article is featured in the November/December 2023 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Ismael Rodriguez Jr., senior writer for VFW magazine.