News – Page 27 – Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063

Voice of Democracy scholarship deadline is Nov. 1

Each year, nearly 40,000 high school students from across the country enter to win a share of $2 million in educational scholarships and incentives awarded through the VFW’s Voice of Democracy audio-essay competition.

The VFW established the Voice of Democracy program (VOD) in 1947 to provide students grades 9-12 the opportunity to express themselves in regards to democratic ideas and principles.

Voice of Democracy Graphic

The national first-place winner receives a $30,000 scholarship paid directly to the recipient’s American university, college or vocational/technical school. Other national scholarships range from $1,000-$16,000, and the first-place winner from each (state) VFW Department wins a minimum scholarship of $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.

2016-17 THEME: MY RESPONSIBILITY TO AMERICA

Students should record their reading of the draft to an audio CD or flash drive. The recording can be no shorter than three minutes and no longer than five minutes (plus or minus five seconds).

Entries begin at the post level. Once the student creates their essay and completes burning the audio version to an audio CD/flash drive, they can submit their typed version, CD/flash drive and the Voice of Democracy entry form to their local participating VFW Post by the November 1 deadline.

Students who submit an essay to Post 3063 automatically receive a $50 prize!

For more information regarding the scholarship application process, go to https://www.vfw.org/uploadedFiles/VFWorg/MY_VFW/VoiceofDemocracyEntryFormandBrochure.pdf.

State of Women Veterans social media campaign launched

The Department of Veterans Affairs published a press release announcing a social media campaign about women veterans going on now through Veterans Day. It aims to raise awareness about contributions of women veterans.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 1, 2016

State of Women Veterans Social Media Campaign Launched

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is partnering with Women Veterans Interactive (WVI) to launch a State of Women Veterans’ social media campaign. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of women Veterans’ military and societal contributions and provide an avenue for informing women Veterans about the VA benefits they have earned.

“This campaign is a collaborative effort to establish partnerships with nonprofit organizations that advocate and provide assistance on behalf of women Veterans,” said Kayla Williams, Director of VA’s Center for Women Veterans. “We are elated to be partnering with WVI in this important initiative. The new State of Women Veterans’ social media campaign offers another way to connect with women Veterans to raise awareness about VA care and benefits and to encourage collaborative partnerships.”

The campaign will conclude over the Veterans Day weekend and will be recognized and featured during a WVI- sponsored event in November.

For more information or to join in the conversation, follow @DeptVetAffairs on Twitter, like the Department of Veterans Affairs Facebook page and use the hashtag State of #WomenVets.

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Report on the VFW National Convention

By Harold Rodenberger

Our National Convention was held in Charlotte, NC, July 23-27 2016. Four members of our post attended: Commander Nestor Tamayao, Trustee and Past Commander, Aaron Stoltz, Quartermaster and Past Commander Harold Rodenberger, and delegate Jesse Basher.

This convention is the supreme authority of our organization, and as such acts through the delegates to enact and modify laws governing how our group operates. People are appointed as our leaders and enact various goals and programs for the current and future years.

This year there were almost one hundred proposed amendments and revisions to be considered and voted on by our convention.

In addition to the changes in our governing documents there were many other items of business. We heard speakers ranging from the Mayor of Charlotte to the Secretary of the VA to both the Democratic and Republican candidates for president. We presented our VFW awards, and the winners are listed on our VFW National website at vfw.org

One of the main functions of the convention is to elect and install our leaders for the ensuing year. This year we elected Brian Duffy as our Commander in Chief. Chief Duffy is the first Desert Storm veteran to hold that office. We also elected another Desert Storm veteran and the first female to hold the office, Karen Anderson, as our new Quartermaster General.

Report on the VFW State Convention

By Gail Engler

Harold Rosenberger, James Williams, Gail Engler, and Jesse Basher attended the State VFW Convention in Pasco, June 22 to 25.

A day before the conference started additional training was offered for post veteran service officers and quartermasters. I attended the all day VSO training which was conducted by Nadine Warren, accredited VSO in Yakima, WA. The training was very good and I hope to become more knowledgeable and receive additional training in order to provide services for our post members and anyone who may contact our post for assistance in filing claims or obtaining benefits. I am not an accredited VSO so will not actually submit the claim myself but assist with completing forms, and providing resources and referrals.

As far as the state election there were two positions that were contested: surgeon and quartermaster. Traci Williams was elected surgeon and Carlos Almeda was elected quartermaster. Post 3063 received a number of awards including second place for our newsletter. Thanks to Charlie Anderson for his hard work and expertise in publishing a great newsletter. Aaron Stoltz received a “white hat” as commander for meeting a number of criteria for the post. Harold should have received a white hat as quartermaster but there was an administrative error at department level so he and others in District 2 did not receive the recognition. Congratulations to all for our post and individual awards. It was overall a well organized and interesting convention. I recommend that other post members attend in the future and get involved to support and improve our post.

Post volunteers celebrate the 4th with Seattle VA

By Harold Rodenberger

On the Fourth of July several members of our post visited the VA Hospital located on Beacon Hill here in Seattle. We took drinks and snacks and passed them out to the patients and staff. Some who were on restricted diets only took a can of diet soda but others had their choice of various goodies. The favorites seemed to be Slim Jims and fruit drinks.

Post volunteers — Volunteers display goodies they passed out to patients and staff. From left to right: Russ Seelig, Bill and Carol Hoeller, Harold Rodenberger, Joe Fitzgerald, and Dan Stokke

More important than the goodies were the pleasant words and good wishes we passed along to the patients. We also thanked the staff members for working on the holiday when most other folks were celebrating the birthday of our country.

We noticed many empty beds this visit and found out that as many patients as possible are given a pass over the holiday to visit their families so they have a short break from their hospitalization. After the holiday they will be back in their beds for continuation of their treatments.

Those of us who visit the hospital or the various retirement and nursing homes always find it to be a rewarding experience. If you would like to join us on future visits send us an email, contact us via our website or call the office at 206-782-8618.