A VFW Post in San Diego accepted help from its community when it needed a new refrigerator after the Post's had broken. When the original stopped, volunteers at the Post were in the process of cooking hundreds of meals for displaced flood victims. During an interview with CBS 8 in April, volunteers told the news station that the Post's main industrial refrigerator stopped working and that they were accepting donations for a new one. After the story aired, VFW Post 7420 Commander Livy Lazaro told CBS 8 that "everyone just started calling and blowing up our phone." CBS 8 reported that the Post r ..read more

On March 18, VFW Post 637 Operations Manager and VFW Auxiliary Department of Virginia Guard Cara Buckley led a ceremony paying tribute to 12 fallen female war heroes at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, which has more than 12,000 names on its wall. The ceremony hosted several dignitaries, which included VFW Department of Virginia Commander Gary Adams, as well as Virginia's Auxiliary President Victoria Butler and National VFW Auxiliary President Carla Martinez, who each gave remarks laden with heartfelt gratitude in honor and respect of the 12 female fallen war heroes. "These remarkable wo ..read more

Over the past five years, a VFW District in Virginia has made it its mission to support a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a haven for veterans with PTSD and their families. Virginia's District 11, based in the heart of the commonwealth, has donated a total of $215,000 to the Boulder Crest Foundation, a nonprofit organization that offers programs free of charge to veterans who deployed to war zones from any generation or conflict. The latest donation took place in November, when members of District 11 presented $42,000 to the foundation. Alexander Thymmons, commander of Virginia's ..read more

More than a year after the Bataan Death March's last remaining World War II survivor passed away, the city he called home for more than 56 years renamed its municipal airport after him. Led by VFW Post 6271 in Benson, Arizona, more than 300 attendees gathered outside of the newly named Benson Municipal Airport/Paul Kerchum Field to honor the memory of Benson's own American hero on Jan. 27. In a ceremony that included 14 members of the Kerchum family, as well as dignitaries from across the Grand Canyon State and the VFW Department of Arizona, many spoke of the larger-than-life Kerchum, who died ..read more

When VFW Post 3343 Commander Brian Moore sat down to calculate how much his Post and its Auxiliary had donated in 2023, the figure sent him back to the calculator. Between January and December of last year, the Post in Clyde, Ohio, donated $158,799 out of its charitable checking account to several organizations, schools, local government and programs geared toward making its community a better place. "I subtracted and added everything several times to make sure the numbers were right," said Moore, an Air Force veteran who served in South Korea in 1988. "We are a very active Post always looking ..read more

Around the world, more of VFW's nearly 5,800 local Posts are offering yoga programs to help veterans and community members experience improvement in their physical and mental health. The VA reports on its website that yoga is one of the "evidence-based complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches" offered as part of a veteran's medical benefits package when deemed "clinically necessary" by his or her care team. "Based on literature review, these approaches were found to be safe and have sufficient evidence of benefit to be recommended as appropriate components of care for the veteran ..read more

Through the VFW's National Military Assistance Program (MAP), members of VFW Post 8273 in Frisco, Texas, helped feed more than 2,500 active-duty troops and their families on March 3. The Post co-sponsored a "Family Day" event in honor of the 301st Fighter Wing at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, supplying 11 pallets filled with a variety of drinks, snacks and desserts. "We were thrilled with the turnout," Post 8273 Commander Shenna Lawless said. "The opportunity to support the 301st Fighter Wing's Family Day was provided by 1st Sgt. Kenny McMillen, a life member o ..read more

Being heralded for years as the primary place for the retirement of U.S. flags in the county, members of VFW Post 2391 in St. Augustine, Florida, wanted to upgrade its site and ceremony. Under the direction of Post 2391 Quartermaster Bob Bewsee, who oversees the Post's Honor Guard and more than 1,000 flag-retirement events a month, design plans for a new beautification project began in June 2023 to revamp the old flag retirement site at the Post. "A pentagon was chosen for the shape, with each of the five corners representing one of the five service branches," Bewsee said. "We received a signi ..read more

In anticipation of the 2024 VFW National Convention in July in Louisville, Kentucky, the VFW and Humana are continuing the Uniting to Combat Hunger program that has provided more than 4.5 million meals for food-insecure families since 2018. During the 124th VFW National Convention in Phoenix last year, dozens of VFW and Auxiliary members, as well as Humana employees, participated in a Uniting to Combat Hunger seed-packing event that provided about 30 tons of vegetables for families suffering from food insecurity. VFW Foundation Grants Manager Jason Couch said that VFW is once again working alo ..read more

VFW Posts around the country are amping up for the third annual VFW Day of Service on May 4. That date kicks off a month of veteran-led community service projects. The Day of Service is an outgrowth of the VFW's #StillServing initiative that launched in 2020 and has since brought recognition to how much U.S. military veterans continue to serve in their communities after they take off their uniform. By concentrating on veteran-led community service projects on this day, and throughout the month of May, the VFW intends to bring focus to the role veterans play in the well-being of their communiti ..read more