Mary Steinbach- AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary President 2015-2016
April is the month we complete our 6 month service reports. If you have any hours of volunteering, cash donation, or used material donations to Trinkets and Togs or Goodwill, please get that information to me or one of our local officers by the 15th. Other items that we collect are Hy-Vee receipts, Box Tops for Education, Milk Moola points, Campbell Soup points, or pop tabs donated to Ronald McDonald Charities. Also, make note that if you have children or grandchildren under the age of 18 who volunteer within the community, we can record their hours under our Youth programs. We have several ladies who volunteer once a month at the Marshalltown VA home working in their craft room and then sponsoring Bingo in the afternoon. It is a heart warming experience to hear “the Red Coats are here” when we walk into the home to begin our day there. On April 5th, the VA Home will honor those who volunteer with a luncheon and recognize their hours of service and dedication to the VA home. Again, this is just one of the examples of what our Auxiliary does for Veterans and their families.
As Ted mentioned in his letter, in May we will be electing new Officers. We have a great set of officers now. If you would like to be more involved with the Auxiliary and be a part of the team working together for our Veterans, their families, and our community, please consider becoming an Auxiliary Officer. We are always looking for more of our members to join us at our monthly meetings. Our meeting is the 3rd Wednesday of each month starting at 7:00pm. Being involved in the Auxiliary is a rewarding experience.
A big thank you goes out to the ladies for volunteering their time and talents for our monthly food nights. Money raised on these nights go to fund our various projects including donations made to “Paws with a Cause” “John Tracy Clinics” “St. Jude’s Children’s Hospitals” “National Scholarship Fund” “State Scholarship Fund” “Ronald McDonald House” “Freedom Foundation” “Honor Flight” and our local Scholarship fund. I want to thank each and everyone for participating in the food nights.
If February we were honored to have dinner in Cedar Falls recognizing our National President, Madam President Kathy Berning. Our Auxiliary donated a wine basket for the raffle. Proceeds from this basket went to her national project “Women Veterans”. The next SEC meeting will be held April 9th and 10th in Richmond. This will be the National President’s official visit to Iowa. Her visits will include: Breakfast at Evansdale Post #31, Lunch at Andrew Post #62, and Evening activities at Richmond Post #107.
Also in April, the Honor Flight Variety Show will be held Saturday, April 22nd, 2016 | Electric Park Ballroom in Waterloo. Watch for ticket information coming soon. This is a wonderful program and a fun way to raise money for the Honor Flight. Honor Flight is a non-profit organization dedicated to sending local World War II, Korean, and Viet Nam war veterans to Washington D.C. to visit various historical sites and war memorials.