Arizona VFW District Senior Vice President Lynne Pierre and President Melissa Martin
Karen Shaffer
On Nov. 9, Auxiliary and Post volunteers manned Buddy Poppy sites at Walgreens on Riggs, Fry’s on Riggs, Fry’s on Alma School Road and Germann Road, Ace Hardware, and the Sun Lakes Country Club Golf Shop to distribute poppies. Donations fund support to veterans in need and the VFW National Home for Children that has helped military and veteran families needing a fresh start for more than 90 years. Families can live there rent-free for up to four years and have professional case management services, plus other benefits and opportunities. We are very appreciative of these organizations that allowed the Auxiliary access to their places of business in support of such a good cause.
A Phoenix, Arizona, student, Karina Yang, 11th grade, submitted an oil painting to the 2018/2019 National Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest. Her oil painting, What They Have Left Behind, sponsored by Auxiliary 720 of Phoenix, placed third for a $3,500 scholarship. See the December VFW Auxiliary Magazine to view the art of the winning submissions.
A new program offered by the Auxiliary, the “Flag Exchange Drive,” continues. Please contact an Auxiliary member or the president, Stephanie Reynolds, at 503-701-1294 if you have a tattered flag that needs to be replaced or know of someone who has a flag to be replaced or who needs proper disposal of a flag. Access to new flags can be arranged.
December days being recognized: Dec. 1, Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary) Birthday; Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day, called by President Franklin D. Roosevelt “A day which will live in infamy”; Dec. 13, National Guard Birthday; Dec. 14, National Wreaths Across America (the annual laying of wreaths at veterans’ cemeteries across the nation, link: Wreaths Across America); Dec. 24 and 25, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; Dec. 28, the Anniversary of the Army Chaplain Assistant; and Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve.
Every Friday is “Red Shirt Friday” to “Remember Everyone Deployed.” Wear a red shirt on Fridays to show support for our service men and women.
The VFW Auxiliary 8053 wishes each of you a very happy new year. Best wishes in 2020.
For more information about how to join the Sun Lakes Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary 8053, contact Stephanie Reynolds at [email protected] or 503-701-1294.