Comrades,

Thank you for the trust that you have given to me by electing me as your Department Commander 2010-11. We have a year to look forward to that should bring our focus strongly to veterans. My theme for the year is “Commitment to Service” this will not entail having a lot of changes, for the most part I believe that the focus of each and every post should always be on your membership, the veteran and the community.

The Department goals should be in their efforts to support the Post. The Districts should be the point of contact to provide assistance to the Posts so they may attain success in VFW Programs. Both Department and District exist to liaison and support the Posts.

The lifeblood of the VFW and the Post is membership. You need members to carry out the various programs to support veterans and to be active in the community where you live. In order for us to survive we must continue to recruit new Veterans of today and get them involved at all levels, Post, District, and Department. I encourage our District Senior Vice Commanders to go out and coordinate with the Senior Vice Commanders or Membership Chairmen of their Posts to ensure we have a viable Recruiting Program for the year.

SVC Barry has developed an aggressive recruiting program and we have brought back at Department level a modified ADMIRE program. As was mentioned at the Department Convention, we need to be selling VFW membership NOW! New members from now until December have in excess of 12 months of VFW before their dues have to be paid again. With an aggressive Post Communication Program to get these new members involved, you can keep a larger percentage as continuous members. Use the 12 or 24 month installment plan to get Life Members. Don’t just throw a free membership to the candidates; sell them on the benefits of being in the VFW. Appeal to their sense of patriotism and loyalty to country and community.

We have a Community Service Program reporting form on line to enter and record your local activities, if you have any questions ask our JVC Darin for support and/or clarification. I highly recommend you read the VFW Program Guide available on our website for more information on all programs. If you follow the Program Guide instructions you will get proper recognition for the programs you are supporting.

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