The American Legion's Operation Comfort Warriors program relies heavily on volunteers each year to raise money for the troop-support program.

American Legion by the numbers

American Legion posts around the world gave millions of hours, raised millions of dollars and influenced millions of lives in 2011 and 2012. The newest American Legion Consolidated Post Report, released in August, attaches numbers to the Legion’s acts of advocacy and outreach.

The number of posts reporting their performance jumped by 485 this year, which means a little more than 60 percent of American Legion posts collect data and submit the reports.

"It is nice to see an increase in the number of reports compared to the previous year, but we can do better than that," American Legion National Commander James E. Koutz said. "If even 10 percent more of our posts submitted reports, we would make it clearer to veterans, communities and the federal government the important role The American Legion fulfills across the land. It would be great if every post submitted their CPRs."

In addition to traditional paper reporting, posts can fill out and submit their forms online through myLegion.org, the members-only area of the national website.

Here is a snapshot of activities performed by American Legion posts, according to the 2011-2012 American Legion Consolidated Post Report:

Service

3,917,943: Number of volunteer community service hours logged by Legion posts
$4,621,777: Amount of money spent on community services by Legion posts
140,978: Number of veteran cases handled by American Legion post service officers
$2,258,893: Money posts spent to provide emergency aid at the local level
$1,585,868: Money posts raised for VA hospitals in their local communities
32,016: Number of registered VA Volunteer Services members
825: Number of Heroes to Hometowns coordinators
83,746: Pints of blood donated through Legion posts
46,528: Number of blood donors who gave through Legion posts
853: Number of Crime Prevention/Law and Order programs conducted
959: Number of Fire Prevention Programs conducted
756: Number of Homeland Security/Disaster Relief programs conducted
36,891: Number of annual community events conducted by Legion posts
$277,735: Amount raised by local posts for the National Emergency Fund

Troop Support

$376,495: Amount posts provided for the Family Support Network
$301,478: Amount posts provided through the Temporary Financial Assistance program
$946,400: Amount posts spent on Support Our Troops efforts
500,625: Volunteer hours spent on Support Our Troops efforts

Media

2,751: Number of post publications
2,151: Number of post websites

Youth

14,297: Number of American Legion Children & Youth program activities conducted by posts
$1,993,951: Dollar amount of cash aid provided by posts for Children & Youth activities
7,576: Number of ROTC Medals presented
14,867: Number of young men sponsored for Boys State
$3,144,7343: Amount of money invested by posts for Boys State
6,601: Number of participants in American Legion Junior Shooting Sports clubs
$267,593: Amount spent in support of Junior Shooting Sports program
$830,053: Amount of money raised for the Legacy Scholarship
2,254: Number of American Legion Baseball teams sponsored by posts
$5,925,258: Amount spent by posts in support of American Legion Baseball
2,097: Number of Scouting units sponsored by Legion posts
46,882: Number of youths participating in Legion-sponsored Scouting units
901: Number of American Legion Vets in the Classroom programs
1,178: Number of American Legion Oratorical Contests conducted
9,129: Number of youths participating in The American Legion Oratorical Contest
$269,119: Amount of money invested in Oratorical Contests by Legion posts
25,722: Number of American Legion School Medals awarded
13,259: Number of American Legion scholarships awarded at the local level
$3,782,638: Amount of American Legion scholarship money awarded at the local level
$156,012: Amount raised by Legion posts to help children’s hospitals
$311,633: Amount raised by Legion posts in support of Special Olympics

Employment

3,067: Number of veterans placed in jobs with help from the Legion
1,096: Number of veterans placed in job-training programs with help from the Legion
920: Number of posts participating in veteran career fairs

Citizenship

305: Number of citizenship and naturalization programs involving Legion posts

Community Events

4,327: Number of Flag Day events coordinated by Legion posts
1,489: Number of Get Out the Vote events coordinated by Legion posts
7,121: Number of Memorial Day events coordinated by Legion posts
4,365: Number of Fourth of July events coordinated by Legion posts
1,335: Number of Four Chaplains ceremonies conducted by Legion posts
3,175: Number of American Legion Birthday events conducted by Legion posts