Fundraise or make a donation to your department's fundraising page that supports The American Legion Veterans and Children Foundation.
The Department Challenge has been expanded for the third annual American Legion 100 Miles for Hope, which runs through Sept. 5. Proceeds from registrations and donations go directly to supporting disabled veterans and military families through The American Legion Veterans & Children Foundation (V&CF).
If you haven’t already registered, get started on your 100 Miles for Hope journey by visiting legion.org/100miles. Registration fee is $30. Participants receive a T-shirt and a finisher’s certificate for downloading upon completion of their miles. New this year are incentives for hitting various fundraising tiers, as well as rewards for the top monthly fundraisers, and the overall top fundraiser.
For their breakout challenge, departments are divided up into categories by size. The department in each category that raises the most money for the V&CF via the 100 miles challenge will receive a plaque from the national commander.
American Legion National Commander Paul E. Dillard has set a fundraising goal for this year’s 100 Miles for Hope of $450,000. The Department of California kicked off its 100 Miles for Hope challenge on March 12 with a fundraising goal of $7,000.
“We want to be among the leaders in reaching the national commander’s goal of $450,000,” said Department of California Judge Advocate Chris Yates. “Our goal is to make sure that he gets that. California is going to be leading the way. But more importantly, besides raising that money, we’re going to help one other by becoming healthier and live better and happier lives.”
To ensure that your fundraising gets credited to your department, be sure to join its team. There are two ways to join or support a department or team.
1. Make a donation. To donate to your department, visit this page to find your department and then either click the link to go to your department donation page, or text your unique department code to 71777. After texting your department code, you will receive a link to donate to your department.
2. Fundraise. Go to Mobile Cause to sign up and then choose “Become a fundraiser” then select a team. All of the departments have already been created. To join a team after initial set-up, log back into your Mobile Cause page or type in app.mobilecause.com/vf/100MFH/YourName and select edit at the bottom of the page, then click Join a Team.
Visit legion.org/100miles/faq to see your department category, and for more information about the challenge and how to support your department.
This year’s 100 Miles for Hope also allows participants to:
Promote the challenge. National headquarters staff has created promotional items for participants to share. For example, there is a poster that can be displayed at your post, community center or elsewhere. Additionally, there is a small handout card with a QR code that can be given to someone to sign up or donate on the spot, or used as a leave-behind at a meeting. Visit legion.org/100miles/tools for these and other promotional items.
Track your miles. The Kilter app is not being used. But there are two options for tracking miles on legion.org. The activity tracker page will allow you to either sync a device such as an Apple watch or FitBit using Strava, or manually enter your activities. To learn how to track your miles, visit legion.org/100miles/activitytracking.
There are dozens of activities to choose from on the tracker page such as walking, cycling, rucking, running, skiing, riding a motorcycle, canoeing, using a stand-up paddleboard and more. If you can’t find your activity, you can choose “other.”
Fundraise. Family members, friends and others can support your 100 Miles for Hope journey with a donation on your behalf. And there are individual participant incentives for $100, $250 and $500 donations. Learn more about the 100 Miles for Hope Mobile Cause donation platform at legion.org/100miles/fundraising.
Create your own team. It is also possible for American Legion districts, posts or other entities that would like to create their own challenge against another group. If you would like to create a new team, please email donorservices@legion.org.
Earn incentives. American Legion Riders and chapters can also earn rewards throughout the challenge for their fundraising accomplishments. To see the details and specific rewards for American Legion Riders chapters, visit legion.org/100miles/faq.
Share your journey. The American Legion encourages all participants to share their 100 Miles for Hope journey. A few ways to do this is by sharing your progress and fundraising achievements on legiontown.org. And for social media posts, use the hashtag #100MilesForHope. Tag The American Legion and we’ll help share your progress! Want to get a personalized social media graphic? Learn how at legion.org/100miles/share.
- Dispatch