Sun Lakes Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 8053 invites everyone to join them in honoring our veterans at the annual Poppy Ball held at the Sun Lakes Country Club, Arizona Room, on Saturday, March 9. Music for entertainment and dancing is provided by Thaddeus Rose from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Five hundred dollars in door prizes will be given away, and the Auxiliary will have baskets for raffle. Please join us for a no-host bar (open from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.) and dinner at 6:00 p.m.

Reservations are required with a donation of $35 per person. Tables of eight may be reserved. Tickets are available from any VFW member or by contacting David/Angie Freedline at 417-894-2677 or [email protected].

The Auxiliary provides desserts, coffee, lemonade and iced tea each Wednesday when the Post hosts Bingo in the Arizona Room at Sun Lakes Country Club. Funds are used to help veterans. Bingo is open to the community – bring your good luck and enjoy the fun.

The Auxiliary continues to collect “Box Tops” to help with supplies needed for families who use the National Home for Children and Families. Box tops can be given to the Auxiliary at Bingo. Funds are also being raised to renovate the kitchen of the National Home.

Please help spread the word about the VFW scholarships. The scholarships are: VFW Auxiliary Merit Scholarship, Arizona VFW Auxiliary Endowment Grant and the Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest. The deadline for submissions is March 31 and is open to students. There are some restrictions. Please access https://vfwauxiliary.org/resources for specifics or contact Stephanie Reynolds at [email protected] locally.

In February, the National VFW President, Sandy Kriebel, visited Arizona at VFW Post 720. Sun Lakes Auxiliary members attended to welcome her.

Auxiliary volunteers continue to be supportive of the Army National Guard Unit 996 families while the soldiers are deployed. Plans are in place to provide events for Easter and Halloween. Additional meetings and training will be provided to the volunteers between now and deployment.

In April, the VFW Auxiliary Family Freedom Festival will again partner with Sun Lakes Country Club for the Easter Egg event. Much fun was had by all last year, as treats and activities were available as the children “hunted” eggs in various age categories. More information will be available in the April Splash.

Meanwhile, March 3 is the Navy Reserves birthday, March 15 is the American Legion’s birthday, March 19 is National Day of Honor and March 30 is Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.

For more information about how to join the Sun Lakes Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary, please contact Janice Cournoyer at [email protected].