Pin Points December
This is the month for Christmas when families celebrate together around the Christmas tree. This is a time when
many hospitalized Veterans are alone as their families cannot get to the hospital dues to the miles or many do not
have family at all.
I know that those of you who can participate in the festivities at the VA Medical Centers, but please don’t limit you
activities to the Holidays. After the Holidays there is a letdown for all the patients and probably, if you do not have the
time during the holidays, it might be better to plan and activity or just visit the hospital after the holiday season.
Check with the VAVS Representatives at the VA Hospitals to see when would be a good time and/or what would be a
good activity.
Thank you to Janet Schock and Dan Ferguson for a great Hospital Banquet. It is always to great to meet with those
hospital employees and the volunteers who are recognized for their hard work and dedication to our Veterans.
REMINDER: Annual Hospital Donations - please remit to LAVFW Department of Arizona, % Nancy Kane, 5630
S. 41st Way, Phoenix, AZ 85040. We ask each Auxiliary to donate $20.00 annually, but if you can, please send
more.
My best wishes to you and your families for a very “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year”.
Remember always our Tradition in Caring will bring us Strength in Unity.
Pin Points September 2007
I hope by now that each hospital chairman has received that packet that was prepared and disbursed at the
Leadership Conference. If your Auxiliary President was not there to pick it up, then your District President received it
and should have gotten it to your Auxiliary.
District Presidents: Do not hold these packets, but distribute them to the Auxiliaries in a timely manner so that they
can promote and work the program.
The Second Annual Raymond J. Schock Hospital Banquet will be Saturday, October 6, 2007, at Post 549 in Tucson.
Tickets will be a donation of $15.00 each. For tickets you can contact:
Dan Ferguson, VFW Hospital Chairman
5088 E Oak Have Place Hereford, AZ 85615 520-439-4742
Janet Schock, Fall Conference/Hospital Banquet Chairman
HC1 Box 724, Elgin AZ 85611 520-456-1850
Judy Hamlin LAVFW Hospital Chairman
1607 W Campbell Ave., Phoenix AZ 85015 602-279-7171
Make all checks payable to VFW Department of Arizona. The deadline for tickets is September 25, 2007. Please
mark this date on your calendar, and plan on attending and honoring these volunteers and employees who are
dedicated to the care of our Veterans.
At Leadership Conference I spoke about reporting. We in Arizona do not require that Hospital report monthly to the
chairman, however, I feel that a lot that we do in this program is not getting reported. In the packet of information
distributed is a copy of the VFW monthly Hospital report. Please work with your Post Hospital Chairman and report
the work and donations that the Auxiliary does on their report. You can mark it that it is a joint report and if you want
send me a copy. If you do not go through the Post Chairman, then please use this form yourself and send in the
report. It does not have to be monthly, but at least every couple of months and mark it Auxiliary. The VFW chairman,
Dan, and I will coordinate the reporting and make sure that all get credit.
Be sure to check the page that has the dollar amount of items donated. There is a lot there that I know is not being
reported. Remember always our Tradition in Caring will bring us Strength in Unity.
Pin Points July/August 2007
Here we are starting another year of volunteering for our Veterans and their families. There are many places and
ways that we can volunteer and here is a list – VA medical centers, VA clinics, Community Hospitals, Children’s
hospitals, Nursing homes, Assisted-living homes, Veterans’ and retirement homes, Hospice care for veterans, Visit
shut-ins, VA homeless clinics.
Some of the activities you can do are have special entertainment and refreshments for holidays, hold bingo parties,
ice cream socials, barbecue parties, distribute comfort items, have members make lap robes, bibs, wheelchair and
walker bags, write letters and read books. These are just some of the ways. We will be covering more during the
year.
The key to a good hospital program is recruiting volunteers. There are pins for number of hours a person
volunteers, starting at 150 hours and going up from there. Theses pins are award to auxiliary members who
volunteer as well as auxiliary sponsored non-members and youth volunteers who serve a minimum of 100 hours
under auxiliary sponsorship in any hospital.
National has a special project for all auxiliaries. Remember our hospitalized veterans on Veterans Day 2007, by
thanking them for our freedom. Many veterans are in hospitals on this special day.
Criteria:
1. Visit veterans on the holiday (or close to it) at nursing homes, veterans’ homes and veterans’ medical centers.
2. Present them with a small remembrance, such as Operation Uplink cards, Buddy Poppies and treats.
3. Wear your Auxiliary uniforms or hospital pink and white, showing you represent the Ladies Auxiliary VFW.
Report your program to the Department Chairman upon completion. There will be a special award to the Auxiliary in
each membership group with the best program completed.
Start now planning special fund raisers to send funds to the Department Hospital fund. Be sure to send your annual
Christmas donations, but please send other donations throughout the year so our VA hospitals can continue to put
on programs. Use other funds raised to hold programs in some of the other facilities listed above.