Past Messages

August 2009

Hello Sisters,

I hope you are enjoying your summer. Mine is going too fast, as usual.  I am writing to ask your help.  Our Auxiliary is in danger of vanishing, as the dinosaurs did so long ago.  I am not exaggerating. Although we have over 140 members on our roster, we average an attendance of about 7 members per meeting.  This means that any help we can offer our Veterans and their families has to be done by a handful of members or, as is often the case, we don’t give the help that is needed. Ladies, the whole reason for our organization is to serve our Veterans and their families.  If we can’t do this, we might as well close up shop!

 ow I know that some of you are unable to get to our monthly meeting for various reasons.  Please let us know if we can help.  I would be willing to pick you up and bring you to our meeting, and I know some of the other ladies would too.  There are also things you can do from your home. You can fly the American flag on patriotic holidays, you can encourage the young people you know to be good citizens, and you can tell the sisters you know who are suffering from cancer about out Cancer Grant Program, for they may be eligible for monetary help. You can ask the Auxiliary, either by mail or phone call (my number is 845-658-9201) to be informed of any petitions and letters to our legislators that you would be willing to send. (Our Veterans need better and more comprehensive health care that only the government can provide.)

For those of you who are able to attend our meetings, PLEASE come!  We try to keep the length to 90 minutes on the first Tuesday of the month from 7:00 to 8:30 or so.  There is so much we could do for our veterans and their families but only with your help.  If we all work together the task won’t be burdensome.  

Our new State President, Barbara Hodges, (a lovely lady) has great plans for this year.  I for one would like to help her serve our Vets.  Here is a brief list of some ideas we can work on this year:  welcoming our military heroes home at the local Armory or Stewart Field,  Collect, preserve and make accessible the personal accounts of our older veterans, aiding the needy in our community, giving blood, recycling, visiting the veterans at Castle Point Hospital, donating to the Castle Point and local food pantries and clothes closets, helping with the Buddy Poppy Drive, giving to the  Unmet Needs program and Operation Uplink( which provides phone cards to active military personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.)

The list is long I know.  We don’t have to do it all, but if you come to the meetings, you can help decide what we should do and then you can help do it. One important thing to remember is that most of these programs involve giving a donation.  Our funds are very low right now, which is another sign of our impending demise.  We need help with fund raisers, such as the raffle at the 20 week club BBQ on Saturday, August 22nd, Friday night suppers, as well as your ideas on other ways to raise money.

Now for the last word...PLEASE pay your dues as soon as possible.  Your dues money goes directly to helping our Veterans, either here in New Paltz or on the State and National level.  Times are tough for most every one but can you imagine losing your civilian job because you are serving in the military?  Not having adequate health coverage for you and your family because you are an active member of the military?  This is happening now.  We can help.  Please do!

Loyally Yours,
Mary K. Carroll
Auxiliary President