Members of American Legion Post 1038 in Valhalla, N.Y., package and deliver 75 bags to Legionnaires and other local veterans.
American Legion Family members of Adolph Pfister Post 1038 in Valhalla, N.Y., let local veterans know that they are being thought of this Valentine’s Day. Members of the post, Auxiliary and Sons of The American Legion delivered over 75 Buddy Check care packages and meal assistance bags to Legionnaires, veterans in an assisted living facility, and priests in a seminary who are veterans.
“The whole Buddy Check concept that national started, it blossoms with a little bit of elaboration with turning it into Buddy Check bags,” said Post 1038 Commander John J. Creskey. “It’s more than a phone call. There is face-to-face contact when we do the delivery. It’s reaching out, knocking on the door, having a bag in hand with a smile and a Legion cap on goes a long way in proving that the Legion Family cares for veterans and wants to help.”
The Legion, Auxiliary and Sons members packed and delivered the Buddy Check and meal bags earlier this week. Each Buddy Check bag was filled with sweet and savory treats, like Girl Scout cookies. And each Buddy Check and meal assistance bag had a handmade Valentine’s Day card, thanks to Girl Scout Troops 1175, 1173 and 1059.
“I’m sure (the Valentine’s Day cards) bring a lot of smiles when these veterans open their bags,” Creskey said. “The number of thank you calls that we receive back is so heartfelt. The number of notes that we receive sometimes is also incredibly heartfelt. It’s just one of the many things that we do to reach out to veterans from our Post 1038 family in Valhalla.”
The food items for the bags came from Legion Family members and community donations, including several donations from a 2021 American Legion New York Boys Stater who is going into the U.S. Army following high school graduation this spring.
“The community really bonds with our post and our Auxiliary unit because of (the food bags). They see this as so worthwhile,” Creskey said. While packing the bags, “some of the Auxiliary members were saying how the unit has really grown and the post has grown because of all the outreach we do within the community. I always say we grow because of the community. Again, it’s a wonderful synergy of all the (Legion Family) members working together and taking the (Buddy Check) program a little further. So not just a phone call but a visit. Something tangible too that the veteran can have after the visit.”
Inside each bag is a letter about who the Legion Family of Post 1038 is and what they do, along with Creskey’s contact information. This way the veteran “is not disconnected to us. They have the potential to contact us.”
Post 1038 Legion Family also creates Welcome Home meal bags for veterans graduating from the nearby Montrose VA Medical Center’s substance abuse and post-traumatic stress programs who are placed in temporary housing. The post is notified when a veteran is leaving the VA through its partnership with My Brother Vinny, a nonprofit in Yorktown, N.Y., that provides household goods and clothing for veterans. In just over a year now, Post 1038 Legion Family has packaged and delivered 420 meal bags.
“We stock their food pantry so the next morning when the veteran wakes up in a semi-empty apartment they have some food,” Creskey said. The Welcome Home meal bags have “been extremely successful, and it also brings members of the community in to support our efforts. They see and hear what we do, and they want to donate. They want to be a part of this.”
Again, Creskey leaves a letter about The American Legion and his contact information inside each meal bag. “That way, they know how to reach out to us if they need to.”
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