Category: Volunteering

Caring for Those In Need During the Holiday Season

Post 3063 leadership joined forces with their adopted unit, the Washington National Guard’s A Co. 181st Brigade Support Battalion, Dec. 18. The post donated $1,000 in gift cards to HHC and A Co. 181 BSB’s soldiers and their families. We’re looking forward to hosting the company commander, CPT Jackson Meeker, during our January business meeting where he’ll tell us more about the BSB’s mission. 


The post also donated its hall for the Seattle Stand Down Dec. 19; volunteers wrapped toys for veteran families.

Our Post Assembles Buddy Poppies Part 2

By Harold Rodenberger

During pre-pandemic times, veterans in soldiers’ homes and VA hospitals would assemble the Buddy Poppies© that we distribute on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and throughout the year.  Donations from recipients of these poppies go to our Relief Fund, where the money is used to support our mission of caring for comrades in distress and other charitable works.


Because of the virus, this year the normal Old Soldiers’ assembly lines became impossible, so our VFW National Commander in Chief asked local post members to assemble poppies.  Our post was one of many who stepped up. We requested 100,000 sets of poppy parts and our volunteers got busy assembling those beautiful poppies.


We’ve worked hard for a little over a month on those poppies and finished about 86,000 of them. Completed poppies will be boxed up and shipped back to our National HQ ready to be shipped out to even more volunteers who will distribute them nationwide when it is safe to do so. 


Many thanks to our members and friends who spent many hours diligently assembling poppies. A special shout out goes to Sue and Jack Westman who assembled over 22,000 sets. It was a tedious, time-consuming job, and we are so grateful for all you hard working volunteers who did your part. 


As for me, I know I’ll never look at a Buddy Poppy© in the same way again.

Our Post Assembles Buddy Poppies

By Harold Rodenberger

During pre-pandemic times, veterans in soldiers’ homes and VA hospitals would assemble the Buddy Poppies© that we distribute on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and throughout the year.  Donations from recipients of these poppies go to our Relief Fund, where the money is used to support our mission of caring for comrades in distress and other charitable works.


Because of the virus, this year the normal veteran assembly lines became impossible so our VFW National Commander in Chief asked local post members to assemble poppies.  Our post was one of many who stepped up. We requested 100,000 sets of poppies parts and our volunteers have been busy for the past two weeks, assembling those beautiful poppies.


As of this writing, about half of the sets have been assembled with the remainder on track to be finished in the next two weeks. Completed poppies will be boxed up and shipped back to our National HQ ready to be shipped out to even more volunteers who will distribute them nationwide when it is safe to do so. 


In next month’s newsletter, I’ll publish a full accounting of the results of this project. Meanwhile, many thanks to our members and friends who have been diligently assembling poppies.  


Volunteer Jack helping assemble poppies.

Small poppy assembly line.

Quartermaster’s Update (October 2020)

By Harold Rodenberger


What a summer it’s been! Pestilence, fire, smoke, it seems almost Biblical. No swarms of locusts or floods yet, but the year’s not over. The fires and smoke have gone, but the pestilence remains, and will for who knows how long. Mask up, wash up and space out. Best practices for you and your fellow humans.


The highlight of the summer quarter was our fundraiser. As of this writing, the net gain to our Relief Fund is approximately $4,350. We are still receiving donations so I don’t know what the final figure will be. Whatever it is, it will be much appreciated by the needy recipients of our Relief Fund donations. Many thanks to all of you who contributed items for the auction; those who purchased items from the auction; Chef Kay and helpers; all those who helped put on and serve the spaghetti dinner; and the drivers who delivered to our members who were unable to attend.

This year, in nursing homes and hospitals across the country, the disabled veterans who normally assemble our VFW Buddy Poppies have been unable to do so. As a result, VFW Posts throughout America have been asked to help out by assembling Buddy Poppies. To encourage participation, we will earn $0.02 for our Relief Fund for each poppy assembled. If you would like to help out, please email me at [email protected] or call or text 206-972-2135 and I’ll get you started.


Our Post has mementos of past events that need to be preserved for future generations of members, ergo we need a person (Post Historian) who is interested in organizing, documenting and posting photographs and documents to the online History Room on our website. If you would like to help out in this way, please contact me, and let’s get important post history preserved.


This year disabled veterans, Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war, and primary caregivers for qualified veterans were added to the list of patrons at the military exchanges and commissaries. If you have a Veteran Health identification Card (VHIC), you can shop there. If you qualify but have no ID card, you can apply for one at https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/vhic.


At some time, we all did our patriotic duty by serving in a war zone, defending our country and its allies. Soon it will be time to do our patriotic duty again. In this year’s general election, we will be choosing our leaders from local city, county and state officials all the way up to members of congress and the president. The right to vote is embedded in our constitution and is a patriotic duty of all Americans. Exercise your rights and vote! You can check your voter registration info at voter.votewa.gov.

Quartermaster Update for the ‘New Year’

By Harold Rodenberger 

The first month of our new VFW year has passed under the same virus cloud as the preceding three months. Nonetheless our new officers are functioning well in their new positions and Post 3063 is becoming more familiar with conducting business remotely. 

For access to our business meetings click on one of the Zoom links in the email sent out by our Adjutant. You will go to a waiting room to be admitted as soon as possible to the meeting. The waiting room screens out anyone who is not an authorized member of the VFW, and increases security.

Our third Thursday Social Dinners are still being prepared by Chef Kay. To order a wonderful meal via takeout or delivery, send an email to [email protected] or call Harold at 206-972-2135. The dinner in August will have a Greek theme; Greek salad, shish kabobs, etc., with vegetarian options available.


FUNDRAISER NEWS

As noted elsewhere in this newsletter, our annual Spaghetti Feed fundraiser for the Post 3063 Veterans Relief Fund is being held on the usual second Saturday, Sept. 12. This year, of course, we will be doing a take out (limited delivery) spaghetti dinner and on-line auction at the Bidding Owl charity fundraiser website. 

The dinner will help raise funds, so is priced at $20 per ticket for Kay’s usual spectacular spaghetti dinner with trimmings and will be limited to 150 dinners. It will be available for curbside pickup in the post parking lot from 4:30 until 6:00 pm. Tickets are available from post officers, on-line at EventBrite (details TBA), or at the office during business hours 1:00-5:00 pm, Thursdays and Saturdays in August and early September. We will need a few more volunteers to direct traffic, carry dinners to members in their cars, deliver to home-bound members, etc. If you can help in that way, please send an email to [email protected] or call Harold at 206-972-2135.

Prizes for the on-line auction are needed. During the present virus situation, it is a little more difficult to get the usual businesses to donate so we are emphasizing innovative prizes that our members can donate. Please put on your thinking cap and see if there is something you can do, make, donate, etc., that would make a prize that others would want. Personal services, hand-made crafts, fresh baked products, etc., come to mind.

The auction site is biddingowl.com/BallardEaglesonVFWPost306. The auction will be open Saturday, Sept. 12 through Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Be sure to register before the auction and prizes are being entered onto the site daily so check in and see what you need. Payment may be made via PayPal, check or cash at the post in order to pick up your prize. If you are bidding from outside the local area, please note that shipping costs will be added to any prize that cannot be sent in a regular envelope. 

This auction is open to anyone who wants to bid so pass the word to friends, relatives and all members of the public who might be interested in bidding on some wonderful prizes to help support a worthy cause.