Planning under way for 2014 Legacy Run

Planning under way for 2014 Legacy Run

Internal Affairs Division staff members have begun route planning and other preparations for the 2014 American Legion Legacy Run, a fundraiser for the American Legion Legacy Scholarship. Registration is expected to open online at www.legion.org/riders around Feb. 3, 2014. Online registration will continue until just before the Run begins on Aug. 17, 2014.

Important dates:

  • Aug. 17 – Assembly and final registration, American Legion Post 64, Indianapolis.
  • Aug. 17-21 - The American Legion Legacy Run.
  • Aug. 21-23 – ALR activities and events in the Charlotte, N.C., area to be determined.
  • Aug. 24 - The 96th National Convention Parade.
  • Aug. 25-28 – The American Legion National Convention.

Three separate route plans are under way for final selection during the ALR National Committee meeting in February. Once a suitable plan is selected, staff and selected volunteers will conduct a rental car cage run in March to confirm post visitations, refueling locations, and to negotiate hotel and lodging terms favorable to our participants. During the spring and early summer, additional cage runs and one final motorcycle rehearsal run with key volunteers will confirm evening lodging arrangements, post visitations and law enforcement support. The run is now planned to last for five days with 275 miles or fewer each day.

The routes under consideration provide options for visits to Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina. Options under consideration at present include shorter riding days for the riders and several key visits to prominent motor sports museums, VA medical centers, American Legion posts and tourist attractions. Also in the discussion phase at this time is a visit to National Commander Dan Dellinger’s home state of Virginia, and Shelby, N.C., during the final days of The American Legion World Series.

In other news:

Membership and DMS Program: The 2014 traditional membership goal is 2,001,806. Nov. 14 was the 65 percent target date. Membership as of this target date report was 1,462,465, which is 73.1 percent of the 2014 goal. Fifty-four departments met or exceeded this target date.

DMS Program 2014: The 2014 membership year began on July 1, 2013. Additional mailings for the DMS program were recently completed. On Oct. 21 and 28, over 400,000 pieces were mailed to the Under-represented Groups. On Nov. 4, about 1.8 million pieces of traditional DMS packages were mailed to prospective members and expired members. Responses to these mailings are being received at this time.

DMS Acquires: Prospects 15,757/Expires 29,311/TOTAL 45,068

2014 Goal: 101,500/Percent of goal - 44.4 percent

Current Renewal Rate for 2013 DMS Members: 32.66 percent (57,295 of 175,411 new 2013 members)

On-Line Renewal Activity: 2014 Membership Year On-Line Renewals (since July 1): 148,820

Sons of The American Legion: The Sons of The American Legion achieved 35.1 percent for the third Sons membership target goal for the 2014 membership year Nov. 14. Son’s membership currently stands at 124,863 members and is 12,061 ahead of this same date last year.

MySAL.org was introduced Oct. 11 during the Fall Meetings. More than 100 requests for authorization access have been received. Information and request authorization forms for MySAL can be found on the Sons web page at www.legion.org/sons.

Tags: Digital Dispatch