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Patriots of the East Bay, represented by VFW, The American Legion, Pleasanton, Antioch and Livermore Military Families, Blue Star Moms, Lafayette Flag Brigade, Warriors’ Watch Riders, the Livermore VA and many more, all of which have a heart for our Service Members and Veterans, invite Vietnam Veterans and their families to attend our Noon to 5pm, March 20, 2010 There will be live music, guest speakers, a Huey helicopter (compliments of the Please email vnvwelcomehome@yahoo.com with your name and the number of guests you will bring by March 10, 2010. Let us know if you have items to show in the August 5-8 2010, Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton, CA
in
Call Tami Jenkins at 925-784-5014
or Julie Nickels-Schau at 925-783-7881 if you have questions.
State Senator Mark DeSaulnier a member of this Committee, and represents the area of some of the Posts in your District. I am requesting that you contact the Posts who have members who are constituents of the Senator, and get them to send letters on behalf of this bill. Post and District officers could send letters on behalf of their organizations, but the important goal is to get at least a dozen letters from individual constituents to each Senator. 50 letters would be even better!
Senator DeSaulnier District includes the following cities:
Concord, Antioch, Walnut Creek, Pittsburg. Martinez, Brentwood, Clayton, Danville, Dublin, Hercules, Lafayette, Livermore, Moraga Town, Oakley, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, and portions of Pleasanton
Incidentally, this is a reportable program activity. Posts taking part in this action should sent reports on Form 12.
The purpose of the bill is to modify the law regarding state license plates to permit ex-POW's to obtain the California Veterans license plate without payment of fees, in lieu of the ex-POW plates. Some persons find that the ex-POW plates unnecessarily identify a particularly traumatic experience in their lives. The following is a suggested letter, but writers should feel free to use their own words.
The Honorable Mark DeSaulnier
California State Senate, District 7
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Senator DeSaulnier,
I am a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post ____ in ________. I am writing in support of the bill AB 498 which has been passed by the State Assembly and will be referred to the Committee on Transportation and Housing. I request your support of this bill in the Committee.
Currently, the ex-Prisoners-of-War are not required to pay fees for the specialized license plates on their vehicles. This bill would allow them to obtain the California Veterans License Plate instead of the ex-POW plates, under the same conditions. For some of these veterans, the display of the ex-POW plates tends to identify a particularly traumatic experience in their lives. This bill would provide a simple remedy for such a problem.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
(Sender name and address)
Bill Manes, Chairman, Legislative/PAC Committee
VFW Department of California
Thanks to each of you for a most rewarding VOD Banquet. You were there for your Districts, Posts and your candidates in a truly impressive manner. It was an event that hopefully our young students will never forget and will always have a fond memory of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Ladies Auxiliaries. Equally important was your dedicated and executed professionalism at the Council of Administration Meeting. You stepped up to the plate, considered all the factors, and made crucial decisions in the best interests of all the Comrades and Posts throughout our great Department. You performed your responsibilities as members of the Board of Directors for the Department of California in an exemplary and thorough manner. It is a pleasure for me, as your current State Commander, to be involved and counted among such a fine team of distinguished Commanders. You have earned the respect of the entire Department and, to me, that is no easy task!
Membership is crucial: Please immediately pass this information to your Post Commanders, Line Officers and members! The "Special Membership Rewards" details are posted on vfwca.org website, on the Home Page, at the bottom. Please note there have been more incentives added since the Council of Administration Meeting and we would like all of our Posts to make hay while the sun shines! If any District needs help in this area (i.e.recruiters/suggestions/recommendations) please contact our Department Adjutant/Quartermaster or Department Membership Chairman, or any Department Line Officer, or me directly; we want to help and we are standing by! The following paragraph will provide additional justification for this urgent request.
I personally spoke with Commander-in-Chief Tommy "T" on Thursday of last week. Specifically I requested his presence as the National Representative at our June Convention in Sacramento. He did not say "yes" and he did not say "no". What he did say was that CA was included in the priority list for his attendance (but there were 20 other State Conventions during the June time frame to consider as well). My take: If we are successful in bringing the Department of CA in at 100% plus in membership, and our Department exceeds our Buddy Poppy goal, it would make the decision for the National Commander to be favorable (especially with that ammunition), as well as popular, on our behalf; what a honor that would be for our Department of California! So Commanders, this is my personal plea! Pull out all the stops, use the incentives we have instituted in our "Special Membership Rewards" program and start immediately! We cannot delay; we must go full speed ahead - and working together as a team, we will achieve this makable goal!
Any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.
Commitment: Teamwork: Communication!
Salute!
Jack Turner
State Commander
VFW, Department of California
619-229-0431 Home
619-742-0698 Cell
619-269-2746 Fax
Yountville Veterans Home Picnic:
The annual Yountville Home Picnic ie being held on July 25, 2010 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM which is sponsored by the VFW. We want to invite all to attend this great event if at all possible.
We would also like to encourge all Posts and Ladies Auxiliary members and friends to assist in the preparation and set up where possible. Donations for this event are also being accepted and can be sent to:
VFW District 16 Yountville Picnic
162 Lakewood Ave.
Vallejo, CA 94591
Att: Bob Houchins
Location of the picnic is:
Yountville Veterans Home
180 California Drive
Yountville, CA 94599
For additional information you can call 800) 404-8387 or www.cdva.ca.gov
We look forward to seeing all of you there.
What's Mailing When?
1/6 Statement of Activity
1/15 Certificate
1/19 Fall Card Follow Up
2/3 VSF Annual Appeal Reminder
2/10 VSF Newsletter
2/16 Vietnam Memorial Print Mailing
3/3 VFW Label/Tote
3/24 March Personal Note
A shrinking membership base and a struggling economy have created serious challenges for the VFW Cooperative Program in recent years. According to Kelly Jones, Manager, VFW Development, both the number and amount of donations from VFW members continues to drop. "Unfortunately, I expect this trend to extend into 2010," she explains. "It's a number game. The fewer members we have, the fewer potential donors there are. A strong membership equals a strong donor base. And right now, we're swimming upstream."
Jones emphasizes the importance of recruiting efforts at every level of the organization to help reverse this trend.
The VFW Development Department continues to implement new strategies, including aggressive package testing, to overcome these challenges.
"Over the past year, we've had some major victories with new package formats," she says. "This has helped offset some of the declines."
Jones mentioned specifically a new deluxe carrier for the card packages that performed especially well, as well as a tote bag mailing.
"We're doing everything we can in these challenging times to raise the greatest amount possible to support VFW programs," she concluded.
Partners in Patriotism Monthly Giving Program an Option for your Members
Do you have members who want to support VFW but not receive as much mail? Then, Partners in Patriotism is a great solution.
Partners in Patriotism is a monthly giving program. Supporters can choose to donate monthly, quarterly or yearly and have their gifts automatically deducted from a bank account or charged to a credit card. Once enrolled, they will no longer receive fundraising mailings from VFW National Headquarters (or only at the frequency of their choice). What's more, because they receive fewer mailings, more of their donations directly support your Department's programs.
Encourage your members to call Donor Services at VFW National Headquarters, (816) 756-3390, ext. 6318 or e-mailvfwfundraising@vfw.org with Partners in Patriotism Application in the subject line.
by Dolores Fox Ciardelli
U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney (D., 11th) will be in Danville on Thursday for a happy occasion. The congressman will deliver a check for $200,000 of federal funding that he secured to be used toward the renovation of the Veterans Memorial Building on Hartz Avenue at Prospect in downtown Danville.
"Every year he submits funding requests for local organizations and this year was able to get the funds for Danville," said Sarah Hersh, District 11 communications director in Washington, D.C. "It's part of the regular appropriations process."
The funds were allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
McNerney will present the check on the steps of the Veteran's Memorial Building in Danville at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, to Mayor Mike Doyle and council members Karen Stepper, Newell Arnerich, Candace Andersen and Robert Storer, as well as representatives of the Danville Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Blue Star Moms, Sentinels of Freedom, Viet Nam Veterans of Diablo Valley, and the Danville Veterans Memorial Building Board of Trustees.
Bob Chipley (vice-president) - on behalf of all the veteran organizations, will represent the Veterans Memorial Building Development Committee of San Ramon Valley,which requested the funds.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $7 million, and the Town of Danville has contributed $5 million. San Ramon Valley veterans groups are aiming to raise $3 million - $2 million toward construction with another $1 million for their furnishings and to establish a veterans endowment fund.
The current building plans are the result of a series of 12 public meetings held between December 2008 and August 2009; the total size of the building will double, from 6,300 to 12,792 square feet.
"We are planning to bid the project at the beginning of March, then award a contract and start construction beginning in June," said Danville Town Manager Joe Calabrigo in an e-mail. "We will start to see activity on the site beginning this month with the tree removal."
For more information from the Town of Danville see
http://www.ci.danville.ca.us/content.aspx?id=1981
To make a Pledge and Support the new Veteran's Memorial Building - see:
http://www.srvveteranshall.org/
YOU PERSONALLY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Phil Munley
Contra Costa County Veteran Service Officer
10 Douglas Drive # 100
Martinez, CA. 94553
(925) 313-1481
East Bay Stand Down 20X.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 9 at 6:30 PM at the Alameda County Fairgrounds at the Palm Center on the Fairgrounds property.
Please forward this announcement to others and invite all coordinators encourage them to bring all co-coordinators / assistants - support teams. All Veteran Organizations are encouraged to attend - in addition to support organizations - and all other interested groups and individuals.
Join in from the start - be sure to have a representative present at this meeting.
Media Contact is Bart Buechner and he can be e-mailed in Yountville at: <Bart.Buechner@cdva.ca.gov>; regarding official press releases and announcements or media information and detailed plans for the 2010 EBSD event in August at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, and the ongoing dates for future public planning meetings.
Thank you for your support!
Denver Mills
Concord Vet Center
Serving Veterans on the Front Line
jgr
Information coordination
Phil Munley
Contra Costa County Veteran Service Officer
10 Douglas Drive # 100
Martinez, CA. 94553
(925) 313-1481
(925) 313-1490 (Fax)
VFW Forms - www.vfwforms.org
California VFW News & Forms - www.vfwca.org
Quartermaster Forms - www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=qtrtools.levelc.&cid=1752
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