Legiontown campaign kicks off

Community events and membership drives are major year-round activities of posts. It is almost a guarantee that on any given weekend, several posts across the country are conducting a fundraiser for the Legacy Fund, organizing a welcome-home celebration for a returning soldier, or going door to door to catch up with lapsed members. But the fall season finds these events more concerted. The Legiontown campaign, begun by National Headquarters in 2009, serves as a banner under which posts can conduct local events to enhance the Legion's public image in their communities.

The campaign runs roughly from Sept. 16 - traditionally the day Congress designates by resolution as "The American Legion Day" - through November, the Legion's Membership Retention Month. This year, Congress has not passed such a resolution, but posts are encouraged to have it so designated in their communities. Community events, demonstrating what the Legion is and does, can be organized around September, National Disaster Preparedness Month; Halloween; and Veterans Day. A dedicated Veterans Service Day can allow a post to showcase the Legion's veteran-centric programs to both veterans and the general public in a fair-like setting. And, of course, locally-specific events can speak to a community just as much, if not more.

The Public Relations Division has put together a kit of booklets and guides to assist posts in putting together their campaigns. Any Legionnaire can request this kit, free of charge. It contains a Legiontown-campaign guide, with milestones, pointers, checklists and contact information; a general PR handbook, applicable year-round for every facet of post operations; a copy of the Four Pillars booklet, detailing the Legion's positions on Veterans, Youth, Americanism and Defense; a Disaster Preparedness Program booklet; and a general Legiontown booklet, with numerous stories of posts' good deeds. The kit can be requested by email, or by calling (317) 630-1253. The contents of the kit can also be downloaded, free of charge, here or here. All posts are invited to share on the website the stories of the good they do and the successes they have, both during the campaign and throughout the year.