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American Legion Auxiliary - Department of New York | |||
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Auxiliary Emblem
ALA Thanks to
the American Legion
Department President's Project 112 State Street, Suite 1310, Albany, NY 12207
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America’s most valuable resource is our children. We’ve all heard that statement; and how true it is! The Children and Youth Program of the American Legion Family works toward nurturing and protecting our most important resource. Working as a team, posts, units and squadrons can be successful and reach the objective of providing for America’s kids, especially those of our veterans and military families. The American Legion Auxiliary Children and Youth Program provides many opportunities to serve our children. It’s certain that you will be able to discover several projects that you can work on within this committee. Warrior Family Assistance can offer aid to our military families and their children. The WFA starts at the unit level. You are the first contact for military families who are in need of financial assistance. Using public and private resources in your communities you are able to find families in need of assistance. Grants are available to active duty military personnel and to those military families discharged from active duty within the last four years. The WFA was designed to assist families who have found it difficult to cope with financial obligations as a result of military service. Grants range in focus and amount. To learn more about the WFA request a brochure from your County President, find the WFA in this plan of action. Temporary Financial Assistance is also available from the American Legion and assists veterans with children in specific needs as per the program guidelines. To learn more contact the American Legion, Department of New York. Operation Military Kids is a collaborative effort of the American Legion Family with the US Army, supporting the children and youth of the National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers impacted by the Global War on Terror. OMK has a program entitled “Hero Packs.” Hero Packs are OMK knapsacks filled with a variety of items which are given to military youth as a "Thank You" for the sacrifices that they make while their parents are deployed. OMK has presented Hero Packs to over 47,000 Military Youth since 2004. There are two versions of Hero Packs: Young Hero Packs for youth ages 3 - 8 years and Hero Packs for 9 - 18 years of age. Both Hero Packs contain a variety of items intended to provide children with fun activities and ways to stay connected to their deployed parents. In addition, Parent Pouches provide information to parents regarding local support programs for children and families. Children Miracle Network. The American Legion Family is a sponsor of CMN Hospitals that provide medical care, life saving research and preventative education to help millions of kids overcome disease and injuries of every kind. Units should promote fund raising campaigns in your local posts and publicize that all funds raised go to a local CMN Hospital. A list of New York State Children Miracle Network Hospitals are list at the end of this plan. Youth Hero Award. Every community has young heroes who are willing to put others before themselves. These young men and women, who have performed physical acts of valor are recognized by the American Legion Auxiliary. As unit members we should search out these youth heroes for special recognition by the National organization. In addition, the Good Deed Award recognizes youth who have performed exceptional community service. Good Deeds need to be recognized. If a child in your community does the right thing, simply fill out the form and send it to our Department Secretary and she will forward it to our National office. Children and Youth Month is April. It is a time to promote activities that benefit the health and welfare of our children. Some projects include McGruff, Safe Kids ID Kits, bike and fire safety, community kids parties and support of the local Boys and Girls Clubs. Use your imagination to discover ways to benefit the children in your community. National Family Week is November 22 - 28, 2009. The American Legion Auxiliary is a partner with the Alliance for Children and Families which sponsors National Family Week. Units should promote this week by seeking a local proclamation for the week from local government. Unit can become involved in community and school activities, sponsor family friendly activities at local posts and schools, such as ice cream socials, community night at the movies, family fairs or an endless variety of other events. Health and Safety Programs are an integral part of the ALA Children and Youth Program. There are brochures available from The American Legion that can be used in planning programs for children on health and safety. Preventing drug abuse, Halloween safety, being safe near strangers, bike safety, fingerprint programs and playing safe are all important parts of the Health and Safety Program. Brochures are available from the American Legion Website. Web address can be found at the end of this plan. Child Welfare Foundation Not all American children grow up inside the comfortable definition of normal childhood development. For thousands, each day is a challenge marked by pain, prayer and perseverance. Many of these youngsters require specialized care. To overcome their obstacles, they need help from you and the American Legion Child Welfare Foundation. Established in 1954, the American Legion Child Welfare Foundation was developed as a repository of funds from individuals who wished to contribute to the betterment of children in this country. “Our foremost philanthropic priority is to provide other nonprofit organizations with the means to educate the public about the special needs of children across this nation.” Each year the Child Welfare Foundation gives grants to non-profit organizations that serve children in a variety of ways. Since 1955 CWF has given grants of over $9million. Money is realized through individual donations, corporate giving and personal bequests. CWF has many fund raising tools available that can be obtained by going to the American Legion website. Josh and Friends, LLC While a hospital stay can be a frightening experience for an adult, it can be terrifying to a child. When visiting a doctor or going into the hospital, children need to know one thing: That he or she will be O.K. Meet Josh, the fun-loving golden retriever that is also facing his first hospital stay. With the help of his friends and family, Josh learns the ins and outs of the hospital experience and comes to understand that he'll be O.K. The I'll Be O.K. gift package provides parents with a tool that helps prepare a child for a hospital or doctor visit through a light-hearted, educational, and entertaining story. Reading I'll Be O.K. transforms your child's fearful expectations into a more manageable, exciting adventure, having an immediately positive impact on the child's well being. The Josh puppy brings comfort, security, and constant companionship to your child—even when you can't be present—providing a symbol of a family's love and support. Josh and Friends is a great tool for children that you can give to them. You can present Josh to an individual child or donate the I’ll be O.K. gift package to a hospital or doctor office. Information is at the end of this plan. Spinoza Bear is also a great tool for children suffering from illness, loss or trauma. Spinoza was created as a healing gift of love. The "buddy bear project" was created for people to extend hope and encouragement to children in their communities. Spinoza is a powerful form of therapy that benefits children throughout their lives. Spinoza also provides families with an effective tool for facilitating communication in a time of uncertainty or loss. In addition the Spinoza Bear company has a special package for military kids. Information is at the end of this plan. National - level Objective: 1. Objective: To recognize and reward the positive actions of today's children and youth by bringing community and peer recognition/affirmation through the Youth Hero Award and the Good Deed Award.
a. Monitor local media
outlets for deserving youth to receive this award. 2. Objective: To provide direct aid, service and information about sources for children of veterans. To identify a way to track Auxiliary members’ individual donations to the Child Welfare Foundation in order to have a cumulative Auxiliary impact number for CWF donations.
a. Partner with Post
Children and Youth Chairman to maximize efforts to assist families. 3. Objective: To increase the number of Auxiliary Departments that report their contributions to C&Y from 49 percent to 66 percent (26-35 Departments) in order to maximize impact of The Legion Family. Report to Congress.
a. Direct communication
with Units via e-mail, memos, letters, telephone calls and bulletins.
Children Miracle Network Hospital
Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center Arnot Ogden Medical Center
- Elmira Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong - Rochester - www.gchas.org
Golisano Children’s Hospital at University
Hospital - Syracuse Maria Fareri Children’s Hopsital at Westchester Medical Center - Valhalla http://metronewyork.childrensmiraclenetwork.org/
REPORTING PROCEDURE:
Unit Chairmen:
Please send
Unit
Report Form
to reach
your County Chairman
by November 1, 2009, For chairman's physical address, contact Department Office Note: Forms are in PDF Format and can be filled out using your computer keyboard. However, you cannot save data typed into any forms unless you have the Full Version of Adobe Acrobat software! Please print at least 2 copies of your completed form, mail one to the chairman, and save one for your records. If you try to e-mail it without the Full Version of Adobe Acrobat software, the chairman will receive a BLANK PAGE... Ann Geer NOTE: For Chairman's physical address, contact Ann Geer or Department Office Click here for Children & Youth continued. ( Department and National Awards)
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