Buddy Checks: ‘You’re not soliciting money; you’re soliciting smiles’

American Legion Department of Massachusetts District 4 Commander Scott Conner put forth a challenge to the district’s 55 posts – to make Buddy Checks, calling at least two veterans during the month of November.

“Buddy Checks are a big part of National Commander (Paul E.) Dillard’s ‘Leave No Veteran Behind’ motto. We don’t leave them behind on the battlefield and we certainly aren’t going to leave them behind at home,” said Conner, a member of Post 138 in Spencer, Mass. “The goal is to create a feeling of purpose with the phone call and that it will be become easier to do in the future.”

For some Legionnaires, the desire to make Buddy Checks is there but how to start can be a setback. Conner helped make it easier to start a Buddy Check and identify members in the post by sending each post commander and adjutant a PDF of The American Legion’s Buddy Check Toolkit and their post membership roster, which he accessed and downloaded through MyLegion.org. Conner hopes that his extra step will be seen by post members as “If he took the time out to put this together and personalize this for our post, maybe we should consider this. I hope it’s fruitful,” he said. “If we don’t keep plugging away and trying, we’re never going to be able to reach the veterans who certainly deserve some small conversation.”

Conner has his own list of post veterans that he tries to make a habit of calling several times during the cold winters in New England when people are shut in; he adds veterans to his Buddy Check call lists that he meets during American Legion meetings; and if he sees a veteran in a Legion newsletter that he hasn’t been in contact with some time, he’ll reach out to check in.

“Every single (Buddy Check) that I have done I found there’s value in it,” Conner said. “When I started doing them, there wasn’t a single veteran that I contacted who was annoyed that I called. They were grateful that somebody called, somebody offered assistance of any type, to remind them that there’s veterans in your community and we’re all here to serve each other. I just really enjoyed that … just the genuineness of the Buddy Check program.

“You’re not soliciting money; you’re soliciting smiles. How bad is that?”