In addition to its activities and community programs, Alaska Post 99 also has more than doubled its membership in eight months.
In September of 2024, Interior American Legion Post 99 was granted its temporary charter. And in the eight months since then, the post has proven a brick-and-mortar facility isn’t needed to make an impact on area veterans and the community.
Located in Salcha, an area with just 977 people located in the Fairbanks Metropolitan area, Post 99 has seen its membership more than double and its role within the veteran and non-veteran population continue to evolve.
Amanda Jones, who previously had been a member and past commander of Post 30 in North Pole, helped spearhead the creation of the new post. A retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant whose last duty station was Eielson Air Force Base, Jones admits to being taken aback by how much growth – both in membership and in activity – the fledgling post has experienced.
“I’m really surprised, just because it’s just a really small community … and so many people came out of the woodwork and said, ‘I want to be a part of this,’” Jones said. “We’ve grown by 50 members. When we came on the scene, we did not expect to see that kind of growth. We thought we were going to be a really small post … just fulfilling the mission of serving veterans in our own way. But we’ve grown beyond that.”
Post 99 started with 33 brand-new Legionnaires, as well as a few transfers within the department. The post partners with various organizations to acquire meeting spaces, including the Salcha Seniors Center, North Pole Santa Seniors Center, a local mental health treatment clinic, local restaurants and other places. Jones said the hope for the summer is to meet outside at various recreation areas.
But a lack of a building hasn’t hampered Post 99’s efforts. On the community side, the post led a snack drive to provide food for the students at Salcha Elementary School; hosted a blood drive and a free tax clinic that provided free services for six families; and sponsored a teacher, staff and bus driver appreciation day at the same elementary school, providing breakfast, lunch and drinks.
Post 99 also partnered with the Salcha Fair Association to co-host its annual easter egg hunt and bonfire. Using the Month of the Military Child as a theme, the post provided hundreds of purple eggs and talked about military brats and their integration in the community. At least 40 families attended the hunt.
Post members also attended the Interior Alaska JROTC awards ceremony and presented medals and certificates to six deserving members, and partnered with the Eielson Farm Road community and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to host an Adopt-A-Highway clean-up effort that saw 23 people help clean up a mile of highway.
Jones said the support from its community has been there since Post 99 got off the ground. “We have a lot of people that aren’t members of the post but are supporters of the post,” she said. “They come out to our events. They come out to our activities. We’re just so surprised to see the welcome we received.”
Jones maintains the post’s Facebook page and uses it to share the post’s activities, community news and information pertinent to veterans and their families. “Aside from word of mouth, talking to our friends, grabbing them by the shoulder and saying, ‘Hey, come along with me,’ Facebook is our platform for communicating,” she said. “To get new members, but also to inform people what our activities are so they can show up. We wouldn’t be as successful without Facebook.”
But the post’s activities extend beyond just community events. American Legion programs are a part of Post 99’s mission, including collecting worn U.S. flags for a flag-retirement ceremony this summer, hosting an Oratorical contest that saw two contestants move onto the department competition and receive scholarships, and selecting and recognizing both a Law Enforcement Officer and Firefighter of the Year.
The post has conducted outreach through a poppy drive at a women veteran event in Fairbanks and by promoting the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ first Interior Alaska women veterans conference.
And then there’s the work the post has done for local veterans, including:
· Helping 18 veterans get connected with a veteran service officer for veterans’ benefits and information, assisting three veterans with getting their DD-214 and helping two more with education benefits.
· Helping a veteran at risk for homelessness write a résumé, submit a job application and gain employment. Four other veterans have been helped with job placement.
· Helping a veteran whose spouse died of cancer and was left with three young children understand the military funeral honors and benefits he was due, while also coordinating with the funeral home and Eielson Honor Guard.
· Helping coordinate providing medical equipment for veterans in need, including walkers and wheelchairs.
The post plans on adding a Sons of The American Legion squadron in June and wants to also start both an American Legion Auxiliary unit and American Legion Riders chapter.
“My vision for the post is to have every single veteran in the community either a member or informed of our post so they know they can contact us if they need resources,” Jones said. “We want every veteran to know that we are a community resource for them, and they don’t have to be a member to get those resources. Our mission is growth so that we can reach every veteran around us.”
- Community