
The Legion’s Family Support Network provides the immediate assistance families need, such as yardwork or grocery shopping.
The American Legion recognizes that families of deployed and activated military personnel face special difficulties and hardships. And our job as Legionnaires is to let the families know we are here to help so they do not have to shoulder this burden alone.
The American Legion’s Family Support Network can provide immediate assistance to those family members affected.
When National Guard and Reserve units are mobilized, the private sector income of the servicemember may be gone. Their job may be waiting for them when they get back, but the financial burden and task of taking care of the home is now placed on the spouse or another family member. As a result, many of these families are unable to maintain their standard of living, meet monthly expenses, and also may need assistance with daily chores such as yardwork, car maintenance, grocery shopping and child care.
The Family Support Network is designed around the local post, and it only works when Legionnaires at the post level respond to the increasing needs of servicemembers and their families.
The Legion’s National Executive Committee passed Resolution 8 during Spring Meetings in May to reinforce the continued operation of the Legion’s Family Support Network and remind Legionnaires to stay active in their local military communities.
For immediate assistance, military family members can call The American Legion toll-free at (800) 504-4098 and staff members will coordinate immediate help. Assistance can also be requested online at www.legion.org/familysupport/assistance.
A Family Support Network brochure and flyers announcing this information are available for download at www.legion.org/familysupport/resources.
Calls are referred to The American Legion department, or state, in which the call originated. Departments relay the collected information to the local American Legion post and the post then contacts the servicemember or family to see how assistance can be provided.
The third week of November is National Family Week and during this time I encourage posts to communicate with local military families about the needs they may have if a loved one is deployed. As the nation’s largest veterans service organization, our commitment to the men and women of our armed forces and their families never wavers. Together, we must act to ensure that no military family endures unnecessary hardships caused by service to their country. By doing so, we ensure that The American Legion is serving its veterans, servicemembers and their families.
- Dispatch