The Department of Maryland VFW Auxiliary recently donated $6,000 to the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System.

The Salisbury Independent reported that the donation will benefit veterans throughout the “Chesapeake Bay State” by providing things such as creative arts resources, transportation services, adaptive sports equipment, holiday gifts, supplies for new and expecting mothers, and equipment for inpatient care units.

Veterans who receive care at the Baltimore, Loch Raven and Perry Point VA Medical Centers will be directly supported by this donation.

Jonathan Eckman, director of the VA Maryland Health Care System, told the Salisbury Independent that the Department of Maryland VFW Auxiliary donation will allow the health care system to provide enhanced services and programs to veterans and serves as a reminder that veteran patients’ military service has not been forgotten.

More than 58,000 veterans in Maryland are supported by the VA Maryland Health Care System.

This article is featured in the 2025 January issue of Checkpoint. If you’re a VFW member and don’t currently receive the VFW Checkpoint, please contact VFW magazine at magazine@vfw.org.Article submitted by Madeline Mapes, a freelance writer based in Kansas City, Missouri.

This winter, VFW Post 6291 has served as a warming center for the Murray, Kentucky, community when temperatures drop below 30 degrees.

Post 6291 Commander Richard J. Owens said the Post opened as a warming center in January for 20 days in conjunction with local emergency management officials.

He said during that time the Post served nearly 100 people, 22 of which stayed there 24 hours a day. The 22 people were served a minimum of two meals a day and everyone was welcome to winter necessities.

According to The Herald Ledger, the Post provided blankets, clothes, pillows, shoes, warm food and a place to sleep for those in need.

Owens said they distributed more than $40,000 worth of cold weather essentials to community members during those 20 days.

“We call our Post a family, and we all come together as a family to look after one another,” Owens added. “We took an oath to serve our country, and that oath never died.”

The Post will open as a warming center in the future on an as-needed basis when temps drop.

This article is featured in the 2025 February issue of Checkpoint. If you’re a VFW member and don’t currently receive the VFW Checkpoint, please contact VFW magazine at magazine@vfw.org.Article written by Madeline Mapes, a freelance writer based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Members of VFW Post 2076 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, hosted their 24th annual Groundhog Day celebration by welcoming residents from the VA Hospital in Butler, Pa., on Jan. 26.

Since its inception in 1999 – only canceled twice during the COVID-19 pandemic – Post 2076 has welcomed veterans from the VA, treating them to tours of the Punxsutawney Area Historical and Genealogical Society, the Punxsutawney Weather Center, and then back to the VFW for a lunch featuring beef stew and a visit with Punxsutawney Phil at Gobbler’s Knob.

Butler VA Medical Center’s recreational and creative arts therapist, Marc Conti, praised Post 2076 as a prime example of a resource in the community that can be used without the aid of alcohol, according to a press release by the VA.

“There are no temptations or triggers there to set off those who are being treated for addiction,” Conti said, adding that he appreciates the Post does not sell liquor at their canteen.

According to the press release, the highly anticipated therapeutic trip provides education, fun, and camaraderie for VA residents who find that they can have a good time while remaining sober. Plans for next year’s trip, which will be about a week before Groundhog Day, are already in the works.

Origins of Groundhog Day

Brought over by German settlers in the 1700s, they, of the Christian faith, believed that clear skies on Candlemas Day meant a long winter, while cloudy skies meant an early spring.

Facts About Punxsutawney Phil

• The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was organized in 1899.
• Members of the club care for Phil and his family at a space next to the Punxsutawney Memorial Library.
• The Inner Circle is a group of members who wake Phil from his burrow and announce his prediction.
• In 1886, Clymer H. Freas, the city editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit Newspaper, proclaimed Phil the official weather forecasting groundhog.
• Phil’s full title is “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.”
• Phil is now a celebrity, with thousands of visitors from around the world watching his prediction at Gobbler’s Knob.
• If Phil sees his shadow, it’s an omen of six more weeks of winter.
• If Phil doesn’t see his shadow, spring is coming.

VFW Post 4561 members in Cresco, Iowa, raised more than $3,000 during their annual cancer benefit breakfast event this January.

The fundraiser ran from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with proceeds going towards the local Howard County Cancer Association, as well as the Post 4561 Auxiliary Milz Cancer Grant.

Post 4561 Quartermaster Alice Abbott told local news outlet KIMT3 about Auxiliary member Jessie Milz and her husband’s mission to create the Post 4561 Auxiliary Milz Cancer Grant to honor Milz’s memory and help other community members with cancer.

Both cancer funds, according to Abbott, will help with the cost of transportation for cancer patients in the community.

“We noticed that we had local people that were suffering from cancer, and the funds were needed here,” Abbott told KIMT3 in Cresco. “We just split it between the two organizations.”

The cancer benefit breakfast hosted 227 guests and helped raise $3,164.

This article is featured in the 2025 February issue of Checkpoint. If you’re a VFW member and don’t currently receive the VFW Checkpoint, please contact VFW magazine at magazine@vfw.org.

For the past two decades, members of VFW Post 3746 have conducted monthly cleanups around their community in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

They are often seen hauling trash bags along the sides of roads and highways in their VFW gear, infrared vests and smiles, joined by dozens of children and adults recruited to help beautify their city of more than 75,000 residents.

“This is important to us because the VFW is about assisting veterans and their families, but also assisting its community,” VFW Post 3746 Commander John Thorne said. “This helps maintain a proactive view of the VFW in our community.”

Post 3746 volunteers have collected tons of trash along the roads and highways since beginning this initiative in 2005. They devote a weekend each month to gathering trash for a minimum of two hours and two miles, which sometimes runs longer and farther.

According to Post Quartermaster Grady Meeks, these cleanups are often coordinated with Rock Hill sanitation services, which pick up stockpiles of trash rounded together by Post 3746 members along the road.

“When doing community pickup in the city, we put the trash in bags and leave them for the city to pick up,” Meeks said. “If we are working in the county, our members will collect the trash and take it to the city dumpsters ourselves.”

To achieve this task each month, Post 3746 members recruit volunteers from local schools and JROTC programs near and around Rock Hill, as well as through word of mouth around the city.

This proactivity in recruiting and working closely with the community bodes well for Post 3746 and the image it continues cultivating within its community. According to Post Trustee Willie Williams, these efforts by his fellow Post members never go unnoticed.

“The community always responds by helping with the cleanups,” Williams said. “They also always let us know how much we mean to them through their continued support of our programs and activities.”

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

With a membership of about 90, VFW Post 4092 on St. Simons Island in Georgia is working to make the lives of disabled veterans a little easier. Through a Post project known as Operation Access, Post members build ADA-compliant access ramps, widen doorways and lower cabinets among other projects for disabled vets or nonprofit organizations supporting veterans. And they do it all for free.

With no Post home in which to raise funds through a canteen or gaming, the Post has come up with alternate fundraising ideas. One of those is to offer free holiday giftwrapping to its community.

From Nov. 29-Dec. 24, Post volunteers set up at Belk, a franchise department store located in the Southeast. For those with little time to gift wrap or those who just do not like to wrap gifts, Post 4092 volunteers take care of the wrapping for free. Donations are accepted.

VFW Post Commander Buck Bennett said the Post typically gets about $4,000 in donations during the holidays because of this endeavor. At the giftwrapping station, a book showing the results of Operation Access is displayed for shoppers.

Bennett said he has seen some shoppers donate as much as $200 after they find out what the Post is all about.

“We really try to help people out. It’s what we do,” said Bennett who deployed to Bosnia in 2001 and Iraq in 2005 with the Georgia Army National Guard. “We have even recruited new members while giftwrapping because they want to be part of this.”

Bennett’s wife was a marketing specialist for Belk, which is how the Post was able to get its foot in the door. Now, according to Bennett, even as store managers come and go, the Post always gets a call asking if they can come out and wrap gifts during the holidays.

To publicize this community service event, flyers are distributed through the local schools as well as a robust social media campaign.

Wrapping paper is collected throughout the year. This is the fourth year the Post has done this. Bennett said the five days before Christmas are always the busiest.

The Post also has an active Buddy Poppy campaign to help fund Operation Access. An unnamed benefactor has reimbursed the Post for the cost of an accessible ramp, which runs about $3,000.

Bennett said ramps are built modularly so that should the time come where a vet no longer needs it, the Post can take it apart and use it at another location.

Last year, VFW Post 4092 was named All-American. Someone from another state reached out to Bennett to ask how the Post went from nearly nothing to receiving this honor.

“I told him you have to adapt and overcome to accommodate the younger generation of veterans,” Bennett said. “One of our mottos is ‘We don’t have a bar, we have crowbars.'”

This article is featured in the 2024 December issue of Checkpoint. If you’re a VFW member and don’t currently receive the VFW Checkpoint, please contact VFW magazine at magazine@vfw.org.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) is proud to announce the launch of its TikTok channel, joining nine fellow veteran-serving organizations as part of TikTok’s new “Veteran Voices” initiative. Veteran Voices focuses on key challenges afflicting the military and veteran community – mental health, affordable housing, and employment. Together, these trusted organizations will leverage TikTok’s influential community of creators and engage audiences to provide critical support to those in need.

“In this day and age, many veterans aren’t going to walk into a VFW Post, so you have to meet them where they are,” said VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt. “Nothing beats a warm handshake and looking someone square in the eye to let them know you care about them. But if we want to have that chance, we need to let them know first we exist. In joining TikTok’s Veteran Voices campaign, we now have a platform to connect with service members and young veterans where they like to link up, consuming the content they care about.”

Veteran-serving organizations supporting the Veteran Voices initiative alongside the VFW are: America’s Warrior Partnership, Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Independence Fund, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Student Veterans of America (SVA), Team Rubicon, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and Wounded Warrior Project.

In addition to providing comprehensive training tailored specifically for nonprofits, which includes guidance on LIVE, content creation, and platform safety to maximize their impact and reach on the platform, TikTok will also be launching a newly updated donation sticker this fall, allowing users to support the organizations above. This feature will empower its online community to contribute directly to causes they support and create a community dedicated to making a meaningful impact.

One in three U.S. veterans report using TikTok monthly based on data available via GWI Core, measured in Q2 2024 among internet users ages 16-64. Through continued collaboration with nonprofit organizations, creators, and our TikTok community, we look forward to continuing to raise awareness and foster a community where veterans are supported – during Veterans Day and beyond.

Be sure to follow the VFW on TikTok and help us raise awareness and make an even bigger impact #FORVETERANS.

Volunteers at the 125th VFW National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, participated in a Uniting to Combat Hunger seed-packing event aimed at helping families affected by food insecurity. Those seeds were sent across the country to distributors that provide healthy and fresh produce to those in need.

As part of the initiative to address the issue, volunteers on July 27 packed 4,000 seed packets that were distributed to VFW Posts and Auxiliaries, as well as community gardens. A partnership with the Society of Saint Andrew, a Virginia-based nonprofit that provides hunger relief to communities in the U.S., has yielded about 72,000 pounds, or nearly 2.9 million servings of fresh produce, for communities in need.

VFW’s partnership with Humana has garnered more than 5.6 million meals for families in the United States. In 2024, 158 VFW Posts and Auxiliaries in 41 states participated. VFW Foundation Director of Donor Relations Richard Freiburghouse said that the Uniting to Combat Hunger campaign exhibits VFW’s commitment to serving veterans and their communities, as well as addressing one of the most pressing issues facing many veterans.

“The core goals of the Uniting to Combat Hunger program are to alleviate food insecurity in communities around the country and engage with VFW members participating in meaningful service projects,” Freiburghouse said. “By leveraging our networks and resources, VFW Posts can make a significant impact, often involving veterans and their families in these efforts.”

VETERANS AT ‘SERIOUS RISK’
For 2025’s Uniting to Combat Hunger campaign, VFW and Humana will partner with Volunteers of America. The program will focus on helping homeless veterans overcome food insecurity.

Tracy Nolan, senior vice president of Humana MarketPoint, said the health care insurance company and VFW have a long-standing commitment to veterans, service members and their families.

“Food insecurity and homelessness are both serious risks for suicide and other health issues,” said Nolan, a guest speaker at the 125th VFW National Convention in Louisville. “We continue our collaboration with the VFW on the Uniting to Combat Hunger campaign to ensure our nation’s veterans have access to healthy foods and resources that can help decrease the risk of common health problems – both physical and mental.”

1-IN-9 VETERANS AFFECTED
According to Feeding America, 1-in-9 working-age veterans are food insecure. The organization also claims that about 1-in-4 active-duty service members were food insecure in 2020, and about 1.2 million low-income veterans use the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

As of 2021, 12.8 percent of U.S. households were considered food insecure, according to the Department of Agriculture.

For more information about the Uniting to Combat Hunger initiative, visit vfw.org/UTCH.

VFW Post 5423 and its Auxiliary conducted a food drive on Aug. 31 for a school district’s pantry that feeds Mountain Home, Idaho, residents in need.

Post and Auxiliary members set out to aid the Bear Necessities Pantry, located at a local alternative school. Volunteers from the Post and Auxiliary collected more than 2,260 pounds of nonperishable goods from patrons of a local Walmart through an eight-hour period. The donations should provide food to approximately 160 families and last the pantry for about six months.

Ashlie Lambrecht, a Bennett Mountain Community School coordinator, said she had never seen the pantry so full of food after the donation.

“The VFW’s effort in raising over 2,000 pounds of food for our school’s pantry went beyond all expectations,” Lambrecht said. “We are incredibly grateful and proud to be recipients of such generous support.”

About 8.6 percent of Idaho’s population are veterans. About 23 percent of Idaho veterans live in Mountain Home, which is located about 12 miles northeast of Mountain Home Air Force Base. The base is home to more than 6,000 family members, 4,500 active-duty military members and 650 civilian employees.

For the past 13 years, a VFW Post in the Hawkeye State has helped raise more than $60,000 for local eighth-grade students who participate in an annual trip to Washington, D.C. To do this, the Post enlists the students to work breakfasts twice a month.

In 2023, Post 1977 in Decorah, Iowa, raised more than $9,000 for 63 students who volunteered during breakfasts at the Decorah All Vets Club. Students this year will work on the first and third Sundays of each month during the school year.

“It doesn’t pay for their trip, but it’s money the parents don’t need to part with,” Post 1977 Quartermaster Mark Stockdale said to the Decorah Leader. “And they learn the value of working hard, and I enjoy working with young adults – giving them directions and teaching them what they need to know.”

Eighth-grade students who participate learn food service tasks and etiquette. Students serve food, bus tables and wash dishes. Stockdale also highlighted the importance of challenging work and mentorship that could help them with jobs in the future.

“Bringing in eighth-grade kids to work a breakfast has many benefits – not just for the kids but for us as well,” Stockdale said to the Leader. “The eighth graders provide us with great support in that they work the breakfasts, and they learn skills they can use throughout their lives.”