NEF donations thermometer is rising

Donations are starting to roll in for American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger’s primary fundraising program – the National Emergency Fund (NEF).

Since Aug. 29, the day when Dellinger announced NEF as his fundraising program during his tenure, more than $62,000 has been donated toward his goal of $1 million.

NEF donations go directly toward assisting Legion Family members who are recovering from natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires and flooding. In the past year, victims of Superstorm Sandy received more than $425,000 in donations, while hundreds of thousands of NEF grants have been delivered to those affected by tornadoes in Moore, Okla., flooding in Illinois and elsewhere.

National Headquarters has produced a set of new publications to assist departments in responding to a disaster. The three brochures focus on what departments can do before, during and after an emergency to assist Legion Family members and posts. Copies of the publications will be mailed to departments soon. In the meantime, the brochures are available for download on the Legion’s publications page here. Locate them under Internal Affairs.

Each American Legion department has set an NEF fundraising goal for the 2013-2014 year. The departments currently in first place for their respective membership categories are:

• Category 1 (100,000+): Florida
• Category 2 (65,000+: Illinois
• Category 3 (40,000+): Georgia
• Category 4 (25,000+: Tennessee
• Category 5 (10,000+): Montana
• Category 6 (9,999-) Wyoming