Background check process under way for Legion baseball
All 49 departments participating in American Legion Baseball have now established their accounts with Protect Youth Sports, Inc., the exclusive commercial vendor contracted to provide annual background check screening of coaches, managers and volunteer staff of junior and senior American Legion Baseball teams as mandated in Resolution 16 from October 2012.
In other news:
Legion Riders: Online registration for the 2013 American Legion Legacy Run is open at www.legion.org/riders and will continue until Aug. 9. The goal is for The American Legion Riders to raise $450,000 for The American Legion Legacy Scholarship by the last day of the national convention. Preliminary route planning is complete and will be announced on www.legion.org and via the ALR newsletters as soon as favorable lodging rates have been secured at selected sites.
Operation Comfort Warriors: Operation Comfort Warriors www.legion.org/ocw received seven requests: three in Illinois, and one each in Ohio, Washington, Michigan and Mississippi. Each was forwarded to the department adjutant for their respective states. Upcoming visits are planned for Fort Carson, Fort Drum and Fort Riley. OCW ordered four picnic (two ADA-compliant and two regular) tables and eight outdoor benches for the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Campbell. Also, OCW paid for some scuba-related expenses for the unit at Fort Drum and confirmed the first week of June for a visit.
Legion’s 94th Birthday: Envelopes are pouring in from amateur radio operators for a certificate confirming contact with The American Legion Amateur Radio Club’s Special Event Station commemorating the 94th birthday of TAL. More than 300 stations from the U.S., Canada, Italy and the Caribbean contacted K9TAL during operations March 15-16.
Membership and DMS Program
The current 2013 traditional membership total is 1,861,584, which is 93.263 percent of the 2013 goal.
The 2013 membership year began on July 1. The fourth DMS mailing for the 2013 membership year was completed Feb. 4. Approximately 1.6 million pieces were mailed at that time. Responses from that mailing are now being processed.
Based on the four DMS mailings this year, we have acquired: Prospects 92,626, Expires 74,593, Total 167,219
2013 Goal – 185,000, percentage of goal – 90.38 percent
Current Renewal Rate for 2012 DMS Members – 47.14 percent (89,378 of 189,685 new 2012 members)
On-Line Renewal Activity: 2013 Membership Year On-Line Renewals (since July 1) – 174,391
Sons of The American Legion: The Sons of The American Legion membership for 2013 currently stands at 295,986 members, or 83.8 percent, as of March 21. At present, the Sons are running 1,548 members behind of this same date last year. The next membership target date is April 10, which will be the Sons’ 90 percent membership target goal.