Veterans Of Foreign Wars Of The United States

Programs: Veterans service activities - the vfw mission includes the mandate to preserve and strengthen comradeship among veterans and to provide assistance to them, their widows and orphans. To meet this obligation, the vfw delivers a broad range of programs and services to veterans through a national organization structure that extends to posts in communities throughout the country. At the state level, the department service officer plays a key role in assisting veterans in dealing with the department of veterans affairs and other agencies. These officers are formally trained and accredited to represent both member and non-member veterans and their dependents or survivors in applying for and obtaining department of veterans affairs (va) benefits. The vfw national veterans service staff provides additional specialized expertise such as representation at the va board of veterans appeals and at the pre-discharge points for soon to be discharged active duty military personnel. This structure ensures that no veteran, dependent or survivor needs to deal with the agencies administering veteran's programs without expert representation. In addition, they advocate directly with governmental agencies to resolve issues impacting veterans. The vfw expended $504,000 to provide training to 386 service officers at basic, advanced, and proficiency training conferences. This training ensures vfw service officers remain proficient in understanding veterans' benefit programs and policies to provide quality representation to their clients, who often maintain relationships with the vfw as their va representation for years after filing an initial claim. For the 2017 federal fiscal year, department of veterans affairs reported that more than 500,000 veterans and eligible dependents represented by vfw service officers received $7. 69 billion in earned benefits. This includes more than $1. 2 billion in new benefits for more than 100,000 new clients, as reported by the vfw in 2017. The vfw also provided $121,000 for free call days and phone cards so that deployed troops and troops in hospitals could make over 29,000 calls home and talk with loved ones at no cost to the service member. Additionally, the vfw provided almost $1 million in help-a-hero scholarships to 242 service members and veterans to provide financial assistance to complete educational goals. This program provides up to $5,000 in scholarships to veterans or current military personnel with a rank of e-5 or below.

department and local post activities - department and local post activities are vital components of the veteran service, community service, and military assistance programs. Support from the vfw national headquarters is critical to the achievement of the vfw mission. The vfw national headquarters provided $8. 44 million in grants to help support veterans service programs and community service programs at the vfw state and post level. These grants are used to provide equipment, personnel and resources needed at the state level to carry out the veterans service activities described above. These funds are also used to provide leadership, administration, information and incentives to mobilize volunteer efforts in local communities in support of patriotic activities, community projects, youth activities, and efforts to support active duty military personnel, guard and reserves. In addition, funds are provided to assist with natural disasters affecting members and their families and to assist needy veterans and military personnel and their families.

community service and patriotic activities - community service is a major priority of the vfw. The vfw's mission includes maintaining true allegiance to the government of the united states of america and fidelity to its constitution and laws, fostering true patriotism and love of country, and maintaining and extending the institutions of american freedom. To fulfill these objectives, the vfw has a comprehensive set of educational and informational programs, materials, and activities that reach out to every american virtually every day of the year. The major elements of vfw community service include community activities, citizenship education, safety programs, and youth activities. Community activities include assistance in conducting blood drives, recycling programs, and neighborhood and highway beautification projects; aid to senior citizens, volunteering in hospitals and nursing homes, and assisting families in times of personal tragedy or illness; and assistance to churches and schools through volunteering and speaker programs. Citizenship education, materials, and activities are geared to remind, educate, and inform citizens of their country's traditions, freedoms, and the need to preserve and protect them. Key elements of citizenship education includes publications and dissemination of information honoring the flag, proper flag display, the flag history and the flag code as well as periodic distribution of free flags. Support of citizenship education in schools through distribution of citizenship education materials and school folders containing copies of the declaration of independence, the constitution, and other important historical documents; publication and dissemination of information concerning official patriotic holidays such as memorial day, v-j day, veterans day, and d-day; celebration of patriotic holidays through participation in parades, presentations and assemblies; distribution of patriotic literature and emblematic materials to individuals, organizations and schools; and activities to support "get out the vote" campaigns and veterans in the classroom. The safety materials and activities in the overall community service category include pedestrian safety, drug awareness, recreational safety and home and fire safety. For youth activities, the vfw supports america's youth athletic programs by encouraging local posts to sponsor teams and provide leadership and mentoring. Vfw encourages america's youth to be good citizens by providing citizenship educational materials and honoring outstanding community service by young people following the medal of honor character development program of instruction. Vfw encourages academic progress and achievement through a national scholarship program for high school students and another for junior high students. Participating students may receive scholarships at the local, state and national level. During the fiscal year, the vfw national headquarters provided $244,000 in scholarships and awards for students.