American Legion Post 159 in Ohio donated more than $67,000 in 2025 to local charities and schools.
For years, American Legion Post 159 in St. Clairsville, Ohio, has made significant financial donations to other organizations and entities within its community, including more than $100,000 from 2022 to 2024.
But 2025 was different. In fact, it was record-breaking.
After totaling all of this year’s donations, Post 159 had given out more than $67,000, impacting local high school and college students, nonprofits and other charities, and local law enforcement.
Most of the money donated is a result of the post’s gaming operations, although donations and weekly and monthly drawings also contribute to the fundraising.
“We’ve been doing it for quite a few years, starting out small, and each year we’re able to build it up,” Post 159 Commander Larry Barnes said. “Probably the last three years, we’ve been up around $40,000, $45,000. But this is the largest we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Barnes said although Post 159 does donate to a couple of national nonprofit organizations, the primary focus is to assist those in the community. “We try to keep it to local charities,” he said. “The high school supports us every year with different things, so we try to support the high school as much as possible. There are quite a few local charities that have a hard time monetarily, so rather than just giving it all to one, we like to spread it around to different ones.”
Post Adjutant Rick Johnson said 2025’s assistance went to more than 50 different organizations, with the amounts ranging anywhere from $100 to $4,000. “There’s been a number of things we’ve been able to increase this year,” Johnson said. “We doubled our scholarships from $1,000 to $2,000. There’s five of them that we give out to the local high school and one to college. (The Food Pantry of St. Clairsville) is in dire need of food. We doubled that this year and went to $4,000. So, we’ve made some large individual donations to organizations that are needed in the county.”
Other assistance has been provided to local youth that benefited municipal entities.
“Last year we did two flagpoles for Eagle Scout projects for our new police department headquarters and one for the city pool,” Johnson said. “We’ve had some opportunities to increase the number of organizations we donate to the past year.
“I think it’s wonderful. We’ve been fortunate to do that.”
Johnson said that despite an aging membership at the post, with 75 percent of the members being ages 66 and older, membership has managed to remain steady. “I think it’s partly due to the fact of our exposure in the community,” he said. “Being able to be seen making these donations has allowed us to accomplish that.”
- Community