Legacy Run registration ongoing

Legacy Run registration ongoing

More than 350 individuals have registered online for The American Legion Riders Legacy Run as riders, passengers or supporters. An additional 40 registrations have been mailed in with payment.

Online registration will continue until Aug. 9. Headquarters will continue to accept paper registrations up until the day of departure.

This year’s goal is to raise $450,000 for The American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund by the last day of convention. Since its inception, the Legacy Run has generated more than $3.5 million in donations for the scholarship fund, which provides tuition money to children who lost parents on 9/11 or afterward.

Important dates:

  • Aug. 17: Assembly and final registration, American Legion Post 64, Indianapolis
  • Aug. 18-22: The American Legion Legacy Run
  • Aug. 22: Arrival at American Legion Post 554, League City, Texas
  • Aug. 25: The 95th National Convention Parade
  • Aug. 26-29: The American Legion National Convention

The route plan will include stops and activities within the departments of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Route planning is complete and is now posted online .

League City Post 554 and the Texas American Legion Riders will host three days of activities for riders staying for the national convention, and the post will serve as a staging area for riders attending the national Riders meeting on Aug. 23, the National Convention Parade, and other Houston events.

In other Rider news, the redesigned American Legion Riders e-newsletter launched June 12 with its first edition emailed to about 8,000 subscribers. Sign up for the free e-newsletter here.

In other news:

Temporary Financial Assistance: The American Legion’s Temporary Financial Assistance (TFA) program has granted $251,500 to assist the minor children of 239 veterans affected by the May tornadoes in Moore, Okla. TFA is made possible through the generosity of Legionnaires and the American Legion Endowment Fund.

Pop Culture Media Hits: The American Legion name was put before an audience of millions over the past week with three separate stories: Promotion of The American Legion pamphlet "Let’s Be right on Flag Etiquette" in the nationally syndicated column, Dear Abby; national media where The American Legion quoted the flag code when HGTV suggested using a flag as a tablecloth for July 4 celebrations; and on the pop showbiz program, Inside Edition, when rapper Lil Wayne trampled a U.S. Flag during a performance; the Legion was quoted and put on-screen.

Boys State: Twenty-seven American Legion Boys State programs have registered their Boys Nation delegates. Thirteen departments are conducting their Boys State programs this week.

Membership and DMS Program: The current 2013 traditional membership total is 1,955,943, which is 98 percent of the 2013 goal. To date, there are 12 departments that have attained at least 100 percent of their traditional membership goal.

The 2013 membership year began on July 1, 2012. The 2014 membership year will begin on July 1, 2013. However, the first DMS mailing for the 2014 year will be on Aug. 16.

Based on the four DMS mailings this year, we have acquired:

Prospects 97,151

Expires 78,325

TOTAL 175,476

2013 Goal: 185,000; percentage of goal: 94.85 percent

Current Renewal Rate for 2012 DMS Members — 50.78 percent (96,276 of 189,685 new 2012 members)

On-Line Renewal Activity: 2013 Membership Year On-Line Renewals (since July 1) – 185,618

Sons of The American Legion: The Sons of The American Legion www.legion.org/sons membership for 2013 currently stands at 344,859 members or 97.6 percent, as of June 20. The Sons are running 4,609 members ahead of this same date last year. Thirteen detachments have already achieved 100 percent as of this date.