Senior Corps: Veterans and Military Families, Wellness
‘Honor the dead by helping the living.’ We set out to serve the veterans of this country
and our communities in honor of the sacrifices and commitment of every man and
woman who has served in uniform. This is the national motto of the VFW Ladies
Auxiliary, and our local chapter, the Dewlen Dix V.F.W. Post 1186 Ladies Auxiliary
truly lives by that motto. For that reason I would like to nominate them for the National
Service Impact Award and share with you their story of service.
The Ladies Auxiliary became a work station for the RSVP grant that I work for in June of
2011, but this story is about so much more than what they do as a work station for RSVP.
These women are always there supporting the Veterans and the entire community, many
times going unnoticed. Their service is not done to shine the spotlight on themselves, it
is done with honor and respect for the veterans and military personnel who have served
or are serving this country so honorably.
I contacted the V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary about speaking to their group. As a new RSVP
grantee in 2010 I was looking for new work stations and to find volunteers. I found both
and so much more. After my presentation I was asked why I was not a member since my
father is a World War II Veteran. To be honest I did not even realize that I could be a
member; I applied for membership on the spot, not because I thought it would help me
with RSVP, but because I wanted to honor my father by being a part of a veteran’s
service organization. Since that time I have learned so much more about the incredible
work these women do.
As a group they help with any and all fundraisers the V.F.W. is working on. They are
there helping to host bingo every week, with the profits going to support such causes as
the Kansas Veterans home, the personal medical equipment program in which they loan
personal medical equipment to local veterans, or to support local youth in the community
through scholarships. They helped support sending packages to our local Army Reserve
Unit when they were deployed to Iraq as well as providing transportation to veterans who
need medical treatment at the V.A. Hospitals, a service that is so important because we
live two hours from the nearest one. They also help with the monthly dinners, the men
prepare most of the food, but the women always help with a part of the meal as their
contribution. Each year at Thanksgiving they provide food to needy families while at
Christmas they also provide food and gifts for families. Christmas is also a time they go
to the nursing homes to sing Christmas Carols, and this past month they hosted a kitchen
shower for a member whose home burned and she has been left with nothing.
Each year the men and women of V.F.W. Post 1186 combine forces with community
volunteers to put flags up at the cemetery on Memorial Day. I’m sure this is quite
common to most cities and towns on Memorial Day, but in our town it is an amazing
sight as over 700 flags are flown weather permitting. They begin in the morning before
6:00 a.m. and continue until every flag is flown. A ceremony is held at the World War II
plot at the cemetery at 10:00 a.m. and then at 4:00 p.m. all the flags are taken down,
folded and put into boxes again for the next year. My husband and my sons have gone
with me in the past to help with this process because my father was helping and it was
our way of honoring him. This year though will be even more meaningful for me as I
now am a part of the organization, and because my father no longer is able to help with
the flags.
When I was looking for a meaningful project for the 10th Anniversary of 9-11 it was one
of the Ladies Auxiliary members who suggested a military display in our local Memorial
Hall to honor the men and women from Independence who have served in Afghanistan or
Iraq. There is a display for every other war which includes a list of every service member
who served in the war from Independence, but at that time there was not one for these
wars. Through combined efforts the military display was built by VT Hackney, a local
industry, at no cost out of brushed aluminum, which is stunning. On September 11, 2011
the dedication took place with 85 men and women whose names were placed in the
permanent display, either by themselves or a family member when possible. The event
was attended by well over 400 people, and included dignitaries from the local, state and
national level. Operation Honor Cards, a project of Blue Star Families, was also a part of
the ceremony, as local community members dedicated their community service hours in
honor of our veterans and military personnel with a total of 25,000 hours pledged. The
V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary was an important part of the ceremony, they not only came up
with the idea, pledged their community service hours, which by the way are many, but
they also helped get the flags displayed all over town and along the cemetery as well as
helping to serve the cake and punch. The next special service day we worked together on
was Martin Luther King Day and again the ladies helped every step of the way. This
project included gift baskets which were put together for military families who still had a
family member deployed in war. It would be hard for someone deployed in war to send
something for the holiday so the idea was to give the baskets in their honor. The baskets
were delivered on Valentine’s Day by members of the ladies auxiliary and by members of
Blue Star Mothers.
Recently a member was very ill with cancer and was not able to cook any longer. The
group never hesitated, they began every Tuesday and Thursday preparing meals and
delivering them along with kind words and encouragement. This continued for months
until she became so sick she needed to have the extra care provided by a nursing home.
On any given day you might find these wonderful auxiliary members, driving someone to
the doctor, taking food to shut-ins, visiting people in the nursing home, taking flowers to
assisted living centers or nursing homes, baking cakes for a local community dinner or
volunteering there, taking an elderly veteran for a drive, helping with bingo, volunteering
at the schools, churches and the museum, delivering Meals on Wheels meals, or helping
with Alzheimer’s patients. Quite frankly they do it all.
For these and many, many more reasons the VFW Post 1186 Ladies Auxiliary are perfect
examples of what service should be about. These ladies understand that giving your time
to help someone else in need will always be the greatest gift. But most of all they
understand the importance of giving their service as a gift in honor of those who have
served our country so proudly.