Fundraising Efforts

 

For many decades the VFW has been raising money and items to help Veterans by providing Buddy Poppies, asking for donations to make gift boxes to send to our soldiers overseas and asking for help with keeping our local VFW Posts active. 

We at the VFW are here to help other Veterans with Commaraderie,  Compassion, Support, Connections, Advocacy, and Distinction. 

Many Veterans suffer with illnesses, disabilities, depression, PTSD, alcoholism, and other addictions as a result from their service.  To help them we need to keep the VFW funded in order to continue to help Veterans in need.  We need them as much as they need us.  Don’t you agree that the Veterans of this great nation deserve to be helped?

The VFW traces its roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service.  Many arrived home wounded or sick. There was no medical care or Veterans’ pension for them, and they were left to care for themselves.In their misery, some of these Veterans banded together and formed organizations that is now known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW). Since then, the VFW’s voice has been instrumental in establishing the Veterans Administration, creating a GI bill for the 21st century, the development of the national cemetery system and the fight for compensation for veterans exposed to Agent Orange and for Veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome which is now known as PTSD.  We are currently still an Advocacy for Health Care and VA Benefits.  We still assist families while their spouses and/or children are deployed.  We fight for Veterans rights, and we help to gather facts and information to help Veterans make smart choices when it comes to political candidacy. 

Besides helping to get funds to create the Vietnam, Korean, World War II and Women in Military Service memorials, the VFW became the first Veterans’ organization to contribute to building the new Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial, which is being constructed in Washington, D.C., and is expected to open this year (2010). 

The members of the VFW, Auxiliary, and the Military Order of the Cooties contribute more than 13 million hours of volunteerism in the community per year.  This includes military holiday ceremonies, post luncheons, flag education and disposal, visiting with Veterans and their families in hospitals, and nursing homes, Special Olympics, Cancer Aide Research, MIA-POW programs, crafts, and overall entertainment and fun.  

The VFW offers several programs that inlcude the Color Guard, Military Museums, Scholarship Programs, the Sea Cadets, Buddy Poppy, Flag Education, Community Service, Patriotic Day activites and of course the Ladies Auxiliary and the Military Order of the Cooties. 

The VFW is a non-profit organization that relies on donations, hall rentals, sponsorship and member support to keep it running.  We ask that you help us in our aide by sponsoring, volunteering, and donating.  Let’s keep us fighting on the front lines here at home and we are sure to win this war!  Our Veterans need our support, don’t you agree?

Your donations help us fund all of our programs from the Scholarships to the Color Guard.  To assist us please contact the post directly.  Our office hours are on Mondays from 9am-2pm.  Our Public Relations Officer can be reached after hours at (503) 362-5944 or via our email address at vfw661@yahoo.com.