Legionnaires featured in 2017 Pin-Up calendar
American Legion Hollywood Post 43 recently hosted Pin-Ups For Vets for a special calendar photo shoot that featured American Legion members.
The 2017 Pin-Ups For Vets calendar features 24 female and male veterans, and 17 of them are American Legion members.
Gina Elise, founder of the nonprofit Pin-Ups For Vets, has a long history with The American Legion. Her hometown Legion Post 360 in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., sponsored her first two calendars. Now, she’s recognizing the commitment of Legion members who participate with Pin-Ups For Vets.
“These are veterans that are doing incredible things in their lives, and I’m honestly so lucky to know them,” Elise said. “They’ve given so much of themselves for our country, and not only do they do that but they are volunteering afterward by giving back to their fellow veterans with our nonprofit organization.”
Pin-Ups For Vets has produced World War II-style Pin-Up calendars for the past 11 years to support hospitalized veterans and deployed troops. The organization also raises funds to help improve health care for veterans and donate to VA hospitals for medical equipment and program expansions; deliver gifts to ill veterans and promote volunteerism; send care packages to deployed troops; support homeless veterans through clothing donations and the delivery of calendars to shelters; and they support military wives and female veterans with makeovers. Improving veteran morale is a big part of its purpose.
“We have individually visited over 10,000 veterans at 58 VA hospitals, military hospitals and state veterans homes across the United States,” Elise said. “We are also in the middle of a 50-state VA and military hospital tour where we bring in donated calendars as gifts of appreciation to hospitalized vets. Many of the veterans we visit with do not have friends or family nearby so the visits can be the difference between a good and bad day.”
Post 43 member and calendar Pin-Up Stephanie Sanchez said she got involved with Pin-Ups For Vets because “it sounded like fun, and it sounded like a worthy cause. The veteran community has a special place in my heart.
“We visit the vets in the hospitals and sometimes we sign calendars, and it’s really a huge boost to their morale. A lot of those wounded veterans that are in the hospitals basically sacrificed themselves for a cause greater than themselves and they deserved to be cared for and they deserve to be acknowledged for what they’ve done.”
For Dr. Shannon Stacy, a Post 43 member, calendar Pin-Up and former Navy flight surgeon, visiting hospitalized veterans is “a huge part of healing, just being able to put a smile on somebody’s face and taking them out of that hospital scenario,” she said. “As a (emergency) doctor, we see the medical side of things, the nurses and the doctors trying to do their work to make people better. But there’s also a huge emotional component to healing, and I think that Pin-Ups For Vets really brings a smile to veterans’ faces. Just having a nice, young, pretty girl come into the room and shake their hands … I think that is a huge part of healing.”
Karen Vasquez, a member of Post 43, stand-up comedian and calendar Pin-Up, has a unique experience as an ambassador with the nonprofit and as a hospital patient.
Vasquez was a patient at the Long Beach VA Medical Center for 45 days and saw other hospitalized veterans who never received a visitor. “It’s just a very lonely thing when you’re in a long-term care unit, so when I saw what (Pin-Ups For Vets) were doing I wanted to give back as well,” she said.
“Getting to visit veterans is like having access to a piece of history. I got to speak to a World War II veteran who was in the Navy and did the same job I did. We’re talking to people that lived through things that we read about in a history book; that’s an amazing resource, and it’s dying out … what a privilege.”
“I find it really special when they find out that we are also veterans,” said Vanna Bell, Marine Corps veteran and calendar Pin-Up. “There is something about knowing that a stranger cares, I know my family cares, I know my friends care, but to have a stranger take time out of their day to come see me, that was magical.”
What Carmen Perez likes about Pin-Ups For Vets is that “you get to meet people that have experienced things that not everybody has. It’s changed my life and my view of things,” said Perez, a member of Post 53 in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and a calendar Pin-Up.
The group naturally draws the interest of veterans who want to continue to serve the military community. “I just feel really proud and really grateful to be a part of (The American Legion and Pin-ups For Vets),” said Shannon Corbeil, a member of Post 43 and a calendar Pin-Up. “It was important for me to bond with this community and then to take it one step further and start giving back to the ones who need it where I can help give.”
“I was a Marine for 10 years and it’s such a part of who I am, so I really just wanted to stay connected,” said Jennifer Brofer, a Post 43 member and calendar Pin-Up. “We just have this great connection and we know we can rely on each other.”
Mark Harper, a Hollywood Post 43 member and senior vice president of creative and business development at We Are The Mighty – a sponsor of the calendar – said,
“We really enjoy being a part of helping bring back a fun time. It’s a really interesting way to connect the community to a very traditional era.”
Elise’s passion and dedication for veterans and active-duty military troops are what draws members to participate. “I instantly recognized that she had such a pure heart and her intentions were good, and she really cared about the veterans,” said Engel-Ryba said.
Elise received Hollywood Post 43’s Honorary Colonel Award in June of 2015 for outstanding support to veterans. Although not a veteran, “she’s done more for veterans than most of us have done for ourselves,” said Jennifer Marshal, a Post 43 member and calendar Pin-Up.
Elise said, she “will always be grateful to The American Legion for believing in me and believing in our mission – to give back to the veteran community.”