Department News April 2015 American Legion, Department of Alabama www.legional.org (334) 262-6638 or (800) 234-5544 2015 Department Convention This year s Department Convention will be in Huntsville at the Huntsville Marriott. This year we will have registration beginning on Thursday, June 18, 2015. The Convention will start June 19 to June 21, 2015. Please call 888-299-5174 now and make your reservations. If you would like to make reservations on line please contact Christy Jones at Department Headquarters and she will send you the link. The deadline is May 22, 2015 for reservations. If you make reservations after this date you may not get the Legion rate of $99.00 or even a room. For hospitality rooms please call Carolyn Robinson at 256-830-2222. There is a Hospitality form enclosed. Boys State May 31 June 6, 2015 All information has been mailed to the schools and posts. You can also find it on the Boys State website www.alboysstate.org. The due date for the applications to be back to Department is May 5, 2015. Please try to adhere to the due date failure to do so prevents the attendees in getting their package in adequate time.
Post Everlasting
Upcoming Fund Raisers American Legion Post 171 is having a Yard Sale on April 25, 2015, beginning at 8:00 am. If you have any items that you would like to donate to the yard sale we would appreciate the. We will be selling a variety of food with moon walkers for the children and if anyone would like to rent a space to sell their items, please contact Donna Brown at 205-470-0977 District Budgets In order for your District Officers to be reimbursed for travel expenses for the year, we need to have a copy of your budget on file at Department Headquarters. June 1 st is the deadline for all District budgets to be at Headquarters. The Finance Commission and the DEC will approve these budgets at the Department Convention. Should you have any questions, please call Chairperson Dee Hardin or Bookkeeper Angela Nation.
Commander s Corner What a great Oratorical contest this March 28th!! All three Division contestants presented outstanding orations about our Constitution, any one of the three could have won and been a great representative of the state of Alabama and our American Legion. Let's wish our winner, a 9th grader from 2nd Division, the best at the National contest the weekend of April 10th. Also, kudos to 32nd District Commander and Oratorical Chairman Willie Rogers, and all those who assisted him is so many ways in conducting the contest. It was a very professional event staged in a great environment, the Alabama Department of Achieves auditorium. And, thanks to our Department Adjutant Greg Akers for making use of the auditorium possible. We are starting to ramp up for the National Commanders visit to the Department of Alabama, arriving May 10th and departing early on May 14th. A proposed itinerary for his visit is currently being staffed and will be published as soon as possible. We will expose Commander Helm to as many American Legion and veteran activities in our state as possible -- but as you know time and distance limitations will make it impossible to visit all posts and facilities. So, after the itinerary is published try to make plans to meet the Commander at the stop nearest your location. Alabama has a great tradition of its citizens serving our nation, and we want to make sure Commander Helm sees that. I might mention that Leading Candidate Dale Barnett (from Georgia) is scheduled to be with us at our annual Department Convention this June in Huntsville. Start making plans to attend this year's Convention! We really need to step up our membership push -- submissions have really dropped off this past couple of weeks. We still have almost 2000 members from last year that have not renewed this year. It is understood that deaths and moves out of the Department will keep us from renewing 100% of last year's members, but we can do better than we are doing. These are the renewals that are not going to just walk in the door or come in the mail -- it will take a personal phone call or visit to encourage them to renew -- it makes them feel wanted and needed by the post and The American Legion. If we can renew a lot of this group, we can achieve 100% for the Department this year -- we currently need about 1500 to reach this mark. Remind your members what The American Legion does for our veterans, their families and our communities -- that is why it is important for them to renew their membership, along with membership strength is what allows us to have a seat before Congress on veteran issues. Many of our Posts and Districts have done an outstanding job on membership this year, and I commend you for your efforts -- but I ask that you don't stop now. Some other Posts and Districts have not done as well as they could with membership -- I ask you to take the leadership challenge and step up your efforts.
Commander s Corner The Department staff has really stepped up in helping contact inactive members and in other ways to push membership. Remember -- it takes all of us working as a team, with the same focus, to achieve our goal. Let's all do everything we can to reach our 100% membership goal this year. Let us know if there is any assistance we can provide you. As you know, election time for next year's officers at all levels is right around the corner. We will put into office those that will be our leaders this next year, from Department level down through Post level. It is important that we elect those best qualified to do the job -- both in knowledge and involvement in our American Legion and its programs, as well as leadership abilities. By putting the best qualified Legionnaires in these critical leadership positions our Department, Districts and Posts will grow and be better equipped to serve our veterans, their families and our communities. Let's give a lot of thought to who we want to lead us to success! My back is finally getting better, and I hope to be able to do some limited travel throughout the Department soon. Doctor just told me "just don't do anything stupid" or I will be right back where I have been for the past 2 months!! I will try to be smarter, no matter how hard that may be! FOCUS ON OUR AMERICAN LEGION PROGRAMS, OUR VETERANS AND OUR COMMUNITIES "LEAD AND ACHIEVE"
Adjutant s Alley I wished I could tell you that here at Department we ve had a relaxing month, however we ve been quite busy. Many good things have transpired this past month and we are continually moving forward. March 28 th seen the completion of the Department Oratorical competition. All three presentations were informative and well prepared, I commend all the competitors. I was amazed at the level of participants that came to enjoy the orations. There was hardly a seat left open in the auditorium. I d like to thank all of the staff at the Alabama History and Archives building for a professional and beautiful location for our contest. As we move closer to the end of the Legion year we still have a lot of work to be done. Programs are rolling and baseball is starting to ramp up. Summer is approaching fast so make sure you ve begun to schedule all your events for your posts. This coming year will hopefully be my first full year as Department Adjutant. I would like to see us meet every goal within the Department. I am willing to dedicate whatever asset(s) I have here to make us successful, but no war is one by a single soldier. Our veterans are encountering an astounding amount of challenges both while serving and after service. Only the dedication we have towards each other and our families can ensure our country s veterans receive the utmost care and benefits. Let s all focus in this coming year to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. Let us bond together for the battle at home as we have for the battles a far. Membership is the blood of our organization; the brain, lungs, and heart cannot operate without this essential element. To become smarter, more active, and care more we must sustain the members we have and add more to our ranks. Mylegion has a new format for reports which give some excellent tools on post management and membership. Use these tools. In 2007 Alabama American Legion was 26,000 strong, today we sit at just over 17,000. Within 7 years we ve lost 9,000 members this is almost a third of our membership. This has begun to rob our organization of the life blood we need to live and fight for our fellow veterans. To regain those numbers and move forward we have to work diligently and reach out to those we ve lost and those who do NOT know what we do for veterans. Education about The American Legion and it s programs will be your greatest asset. Please if you haven t visit www.legion.org and take the FREE American Legion Extension Institute. You will be awarded a certificate and pin for completion and you will become a stronger Legionnaire. Thank you for what all you have done and what you will do for our veterans, families, and communities. NO VETERAN LEFT BEHIND! Greg Akers, Department Adjutant
VA Announces New Grants to Help End Veteran Homelessness Initiative Targets 45,000 Homeless and At-Risk Vets and Families in High Need Communities WASHINGTON Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald today announced the award of nearly $93 million in Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) 3-year grants that will help approximately 45,000 homeless and at-risk Veterans and their families. The grants will be distributed to 24 non-profit agencies in 15 communities, with $30 million in awards being distributed to the Los Angeles area. The Department of Veterans Affairs is committed to using evidence-based approaches such as SSVF to prevent homelessness and produce successful outcomes for Veterans and their families, said Secretary McDonald. This is a program that works, because it allows VA staff and local homeless service providers to work together to effectively address the unique challenges that make it difficult for some Veterans and their families to remain stably housed. Under the SSVF program, VA is awarding grants to private, non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that provide services to very low-income Veteran families living in or transitioning to permanent housing. The grants announced today will provide additional resources to the fourth year operations of the SSVF program. With the addition of these crucial resources, communities across the country continue an historic drive to prevent and end homelessness among Veterans, said Matthew Doherty, Acting Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The SSVF program gives Veterans and their families the rapid assistance they need to remain in permanent housing or get back into permanent housing as quickly as possible. Through the homeless Veterans initiative, VA committed more than $1 billion in FY 2014 to strengthen programs that prevent and end homelessness among Veterans. VA provides a range of services to homeless Veterans, including health care, housing, job training and education. More information about VA s homeless programs is available at www.va.gov/homeless. Details about the SSVF program are online at www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp.
2014-2015 Important Forms Due Dates Due Date Form Name March 31, 2015 April 15, 2015 April 15, 2015 April 15, 2015 April 15, 2015 May 1, 2015 May 5, 2015 May 15, 2015 May 15, 2015 May 15, 2015 June 1, 2015 July 1, 2015 Dist. Commander Race to the Top Membership Cutoff C. C. Horton Service Officer of The Year Award Irby Powers C. A. S. E. Award Law Officer of the Year Award Fire Fighter of the Year Award Veteran of The Year Form Boys State Applications are Due Silver Brigade Form Due All Gold Brigades Forms Due Recruiter of the Year Form Due Annual Deceased Report Due District, Post, and Squadron Officers Report Due
Public Relations and Marketing Article If you have not received a copy of the Public Relations Booklet with DVD I want to again express how important it is for each post to have one. Hopefully every post has someone appointed as the PR and Marketing representative and is getting the most out of the excellent guidance included in the booklet. Today's topic is about one of the most powerful publicity tools, Outdoor Advertising. You see these along the road everyday including many that are not being used. That's the goldmine. Section ten of the Public Relations Toolkit goes into detail about how to get outdoor companies to place American Legion ads on billboards that are not being used. It covers the types and designs of billboards, how to find them and explains as a 501 c (19) charitable entity, your post can ask for billboard ads. The outdoor company may grant that they will place your ad for as long as that billboard location is available. It might be there for 90s or a year, either way it will be a BIG Picture for the American Legion for thousands who pass by it every day. Billboard signs are available from national HQ and I will be happy to assist in obtaining one for your area. The outdoor company may charge a onetime set up fee, so be sure to ask. Ads can be edited to include the name of your post and contact information. It would be great to see these impressive big billboards throughout the state. I am working on it for our area of the state and will share my progress with you. If you do not have a copy of the booklet, Public Relations Toolkit please send me your request to jjohn0307@aol.com. Jim Johnson Department PR and Marketing Officer
Oratorical Contest Winners Announced Pictured Left to right: 3 rd Place Winner Brandon Walker 2 nd Place Winner Abigail Hagel Chairman Willie Rogers 1 st Place Winner Daniel Blessing. Contestants getting their awards. Also pictured Commander Stacey, Sr. Vice Commander Hartline, Jr. Vice Commander Jim Jeffries, and Chairman Willie Rogers. Thank you for all your hard work. The contest was a great success. We hope to see everyone next year.
Contestants and their families Cadets that were used as escorts All the workers and contestants 2014-2015 Oratorical Contest Pictures
LEADERSHIP APPLICATION JULY 24-28, 2015 Leadership camp is sponsored by The American Legion and is opened to Veterans children ages 8 18 years of age. Leadership camp will be held on July 24 - July 28, 2015 and will be at Camp Boothe, Greenpond, Alabama. This application, small photo, copy of insurance card, and $160.00 registration fee must be mailed to Department Headquarters, P O Box 1069, Montgomery, Alabama 36101, no later than July 21, 2015. (Earmarked for Leadership Camp) Also, please send a copy of application to Ron Haygood, Director, 2521 Hwy 17, Montevallo, Alabama 35115. If you have any questions, please contact Ron Haygood 205-613-4814 or Gloria 205-531-9227 Name: DOB: Age: Address: City: Zip: Home Phone: Grade: Shirt Size: If member of the Sons of the American Legion: Squadron Name and #: District No: Your Favorite Activities: Health problems: Emergency Contact: Phone: I, the undersigned parent/guardian of in the consideration of the instruction and training given to son/ward at Leadership, hereby discharge The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, the officers, instructors and employees from any and all claims, demands, or cause of action I may have be reason of illness, injury, or accident incurred or suffered by said son/ward while attending said Leadership no matter how caused or occasioned. Signature: Date: (Parent or Guardian) Contact No: Email: Address if different from above: