News

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.

Quartermaster’s September Update

By Harold Rodenberger

 

School vacations are finishing up, Labor Day is just around the corner and the Harvest Moon will be sailing high on the sixteenth of this month. It’s time to get back to school, back to work, and back to enjoying some camaraderie and volunteer service at your local VFW Post.

 

School classes along with his young family and full-time work schedule leave Jon Guncay with very little additional time for VFW activities so he is postponing his progress through the chairs until later.  Our Junior Vice Commander, Pete Krawitz, moved up to Senior Vice and we elected Joe Tiffany as Junior Vice Commander to serve for the remainder of this year.

 

If the weather is favorable, we plan to have another US Flag retirement ceremony in our parking lot from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on September 18. We will be retiring unserviceable flags with an appropriate ceremony. All who wish may attend and observe or participate.

 

Fall is cleanup time. As a community service we are offering to dispose of latex paint, so check your basement or garage for old or unwanted water-based paint. Bring it to the post during our regular office hours (1-5 pm) on September 1, 3, 6, 8 or 10 and we will dispose of it properly.

 

At 10 am on September 5, our surgeon, Justin Mamallo, will be leading members of our post to visit patients at the Seattle VA Hospital to pass out monetary chits and bring them some conversation on Labor Day. If you would like to join this visitation please meet at the Emergency Room entrance at 10 am. The new parking garage is convenient and it’s just a short walk to the ER entrance, so come out and celebrate Labor Day by bringing some cheer to the patients.

 

On September 24, District 2 post and auxiliary members will meet at our post for a joint meeting. In addition to the meeting there will be a school of instruction. All members, and especially post officers, are encouraged to attend. There will be lunch ($6.00) at 11:30 am and the meeting starts at 12:30 pm.

 

Our post has recently lost a couple of old time members. To make up that loss, and to build for the future, we need to recruit more new members. As you go about your daily activities keep an eye out for potential recruits.