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National Commander Dave Rehbein has created a post excellence award program to honor American Legion posts that achieve a high standard of participation in each of four key areas: membership, youth activities, community service, and support of our U.S. military or veterans.
Standards to be achieved in areas include:
Membership. Membership must be at least one member greater than the previous year.
Youth activities. The post must sponsor and actively participate in at least one of the primary youth programs: American Legion Boys State, American Legion Baseball, Oratorical, Boy Scouts or Junior Shooting Sports.
Community service. The post must carry out a community service project that involves members of the Legion family actively working in the community outside the post home. There’s a large range of potential projects, with some centering on a Children & Youth program fulfilling strictly local needs. Monetary donations are allowed but may not constitute the entire project.
Service to U.S. troops or veterans. The post must carry out a project supporting troops or veterans in the community, with Legion family members outside the post home. Projects might include the Family Support Network or Heroes to Hometowns, or helping a local veteran with needed updates to his or her home. Monetary donations are allowed but may not constitute the entire project.
District commanders responsible for each post will certify the achievement of the four specified criteria. They also will submit a list of posts meeting the criteria each month to their department headquarters, including the post’s name, number, address and commander’s name.
The last two criteria will ideally include documentation, such as copies of press releases submitted to the local media. That method ensures the projects were not only accomplished, but that an effort was made to enhance the Legion’s media image. Copy submitted should include a date-time stamp showing receipt by the media outlet. The department adjutant will transmit information each month on qualified posts to Internal Affairs at National Headquarters in Indianapolis.
For each qualifying post, a framed certificate will recognize its achievement. Certificates will be mailed to district commanders to be awarded to posts. Commanders of districts in which 50 percent or more posts achieve certification will receive framed certificates denoting their achievement.
District commanders in departments, whose districts achieve the highest percentage of posts recognized, will receive an additional award. In the event of a tie, all district commanders having the same percentage will receive recognition.
www.legion.org/members/officers/nationalcommander
Reprinted from The American Legion Dispatch. To subscribe to The American Legion Dispatch, click here.
