American Legion posts nationwide continue to support those in need during the current pandemic.
American Legion Riders Chapter 37 in Mankato, Minn., escorted National Guard members from Mankato Armory to Camp Ripley military training facility in preparation for their deployment to the Horn of Africa. Chapter 37 Riders presented the Guardsmen with American Legion Riders coins and stood in a line as the men and women boarded their bus.
“Right now, we got your backs. We’re your family, and we look forward in a year for when you guys come back and we’ll bring you home,” said David Street, the Chapter 37 American Legion Riders director, to Keyc News Now.
The American Legion Department of Rhode Island presented a $1,000 check to the Emanuel Lutheran Church food cupboard to purchase food for the pantry. It was awarded through the American Legion Department of Rhode Island’s Children and Youth Committee, which offers outreach services for families in need.
Members of American Legion Post 10 in South El Monte, Calif., have been going door-to-door to identify families in need or out of work to deliver a $100 grocery gift card.
“A lot of people are hurting right now. Hopefully this will cheer them up and ease some stress,” said Post 10 Commander JR Duarte, to ABC7 news. As of May 29, $700 in grocery gift cards had been handed out.
Post 443 in Sanford, Mich., quickly became a distribution center for supplies to the community after Edenville Dam ruptured following days of heavy rain and caused flooding in parts of north-central Michigan. The community also is rallying together to raise funds in the rebuilding of the Sanford Flag Memorial that was destroyed by the flooding. Post 443’s Legion Riders chapter helped raise funds with the Ryan Burgess Memorial Foundation to build the monument, which was dedicated in 2018. Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan Burgess was killed by an IED in Iraq in 2006. A GoFundMe page was set up with a goal of $50,000. As of June 5, $40,000 had been raised.
Maurice Dunn Post 7 in Carroll, Iowa, now have hundreds of U.S. flags flying along the Highway 30 corridor and downtown until Labor Day. The post conducted a fundraiser in the week before Veterans Day 2019 to raise at least $23,100 for 770 new flags and aluminum poles. The community response was overwhelming and Post 7 raised more than $42,000.
American Legion China Post 1 distributed about 10,000 latex gloves to health-care workers and first responders in April to go along with about 1,500 face shields, many gallons of hand sanitizer and surgical gowns to help protect them from COVID-19 infection.
American Legion Family of Post 175 in Severna Park, Md., created care packages for residents at the FutureCare nursing home, servicemembers aboard the USS Roosevelt and USS Nimitz, and one for the husband of an Auxiliary Unit 175 member who is in Afghanistan as a contractor. The care packages included items such as as gum, soap, toothpaste, granola bars, as well as other toiletries and snacks.
I am proud of all that American Legion posts in communities nationwide have done for those in need during this unprecedented time. Thank you for making sure our veterans, their families and the community is not forgotten.
- Dispatch