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We are wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters,
daughters & granddaughters
of American Legion members, those who have served America with pride and honor.
We are The American Legion Auxiliary!

Mission Statement
In the spirit of Service, Not Self, the mission of the American Legion Auxiliary is to support The American Legion and to honor the sacrifice of those who serve by enhancing the lives of our veterans, military, and their families, both at home and abroad. For God and Country, we advocate for veterans, educate our citizens, mentor youth, and promote patriotism, good citizenship, peace and security.

Vision Statement
The vision of the American Legion Auxiliary is to support The American Legion while becoming the premier service organization and foundation of every community providing support for our veterans, our military, and their families by shaping a positive future in an atmosphere of fellowship, patriotism, peace and security.

Unit 716 Newsletter - October 2019
Dear Members - Last month was our annual “honor Girls State” meeting, and as usual, it was so heartwarming and inspiring. Cindy does such a nice job with this - we had many more family members this year than we have had in the past, and the girls were so wonderful to listen to. Hearing them talk so eloquently about their experiences and plans for the future always makes me feel hopeful for this country - it’s not all bad for our future with kids like this heading for the helm. This is the first year we gifted the girls with their graduation sashes, and I would like to thank the membership again for voting to include them in our support for this program. Later on in this newsletter are copies of some notes sent to Cindy from former Girls State attendees, letting us know about what they are doing - please take a minute and read them - they are pretty impressive. It should give you a nice little jolt of the “feel goods” to know that you had a tiny bit of responsibility for all that success.
Toni collected a trunkful of goodies for Precious Life, and Joni Redman won the drawing - that woman seems to be very lucky sometimes, so that’s why I sit next to her at the bar, so maybe some of it will rub off on me. Toni has just jumped in with both feet for this unit - we told her when she joined we would be after her talents, and she didn’t run away, so there you go. We’ve talked about how we can make our unit successful and help as many people as we can, without the chairmen needed to run the program activities. Now, having chairmen is a blessing for the unit president - wise, hard-working, savvy women who handle the programs so well the president doesn’t have to worry about it - in our unit that’s Shellie, Kelly, Cindy, and Allison, who now keeps up with the Juniors via social media and makes things a lot easier for me. Toni is the perfect example of a member who chose a project for a program without a chair and ran it to perfection, and I hold her up as an example of WHAT WE CAN DO IF WE ALL WORK TOGETHER.
I bring this up because it ties into what happened to me yesterday . . . . . .so I went to the Post on a whim, planning to do all my typing there (but didn’t check my computer to see if my battery was full, so that was a bust) and stumbled on to an event planned for Friday the 8th, sponsored by a company called VET Tv. They produce comedy sketches written by, directed by, and starring veterans. The subject matter comes from the veteran’s own experiences, and the humor can be dark, but the idea struck my fancy. They will be showing a movie at the Post that night, and we are all invited. -2- I will have more about this at the meeting, but wanted to share now so you can look them up for more info, or plan to come to the event on the 8th - starts at 6. So, right after I got done with that, I was introduced to Lorri, a blue star mom who immediately applied to become a member of our unit. She is very interested in helping the deployed soldiers, so we will be talking about that at the meeting also. Then I saw our resident super teacher Justin and an idea popped into my head regarding another project we can accomplish for Education. Yesterday morning I had no idea what we were going to talk about at the meeting in November, and now we will be chock full of ideas for things we can do that will encompass National Security, Education, VA and R, and Children and Youth (that project is still percolating, waiting on more info). That, coupled with the Girls State and Community Service presentation and project from last month, means we will have touched on most of the programs before the end of the year - and that is not only an example of being in the right place at the right time, but it also shows WHAT WE CAN DO IF WE ALL WORK TOGETHER.
Please plan to be at the Post for Veterans Day, Monday November 11th - the Sons will be doing the BBQ, we will feature pot luck, and there will be a special presentation of a family gift to the Post, re-dedicating the Post building in honor of the Centennial. The BBQ is from 1 to 4 pm, and we will have a flyer out this weekend so you will have all the details and you can hang it on the refrigerator as a reminder.
I want to send out a big thank you and lots of hugs to Lisa for helping me promote the Centennial activities! It’s hard to believe Halloween is around the corner - and then, of course, it is time to start thinking about the holidays - remember, the Holiday Boutique is on November 23rd, and Barbara still has room if you would like a table. Make your arrangements with her as soon as you can, to make sure you get a spot.
See, all this works together for me, because in my house, Halloween means we watch “Nightmare Before Christmas” five million times or so. I think that’s it for now, (it is certainly enough) so just remember the membership meeting is on the 4th at 7pm, not the 11th - the 11th is for celebrating our birthday and honoring our veterans from 1 to 4 pm. I leave you with the following words of wisdom from Linus VanPelt,
“Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.” Trick or treat - Deborah

NEXT MEETING
MONDAY
NOVEMBER 4 @7PM

Los Alamitos Unit 716 Officers 2019-2020

President - Deborah Driscoll
First Vice - Kelly Huff
Second Vice - Susana Stevens
Secretary - Vacant
Treasurer - Lori Soutar
Sgt at Arms - Joanie Harris
Parliamentarian - Mary Hernandez
E-Board
Joni Redman-Toni Mikrut-Shellie Moustafa

Junior Past president - Irene Hallam

SUPPORT THE AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY UNIT 716 LOS ALAMITOS. Thank you for your generosity. Without the support of our generous donors, the American Legion Auxiliary could not maintain the range of work undertaken by our organization. To those of you who joined us in service to our veterans, military and their families this year, we extend a special word of thanks.

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