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!
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​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. 
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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 Email Newsletter - January 2019

Dear Members - Time to get back in the saddle and get some work done - there are many things for us to get busy on. I can’t believe the membership year is half gone!
The meeting in January was fabulous - a big Thank You to Cindy Mayfield for organizing such a fantastic Girls State presentation. The young ladies we sponsored for the 2018 GS were so inspiring - they make us look so good! I don’t think I was anywhere near as motivated and self confident as these young ladies when I was their age - I invite anyone cynical about our future
to look to the accomplishments and plans of our Girl Staters and not feel hopeful again. I am really looking forward to this year’s crop of attendees - Cindy is in the process of setting up interviews right now.

I want to remind those that might have procrastinated just a bit that your 2018-2019 membership dues are now past due - if you have not paid for this year, your membership is suspended, your bar privileges are void, and your participation at meetings and activities is moot. It is an easy fix - get your dues in ASAP. We will have a list of all those not paid, and suspension of benefits will be enforced - this is Post policy. If there is a financial situation that is preventing you from paying, please let me know and we will see what we can do.

Now for this month’s business - Cindy Mayfield needs a crew of at least five to help with our unit’s VA Bingo game - this is a different ward than the one we sponsor on monthly first Thursdays - this is a district-sponsored responsibility. Anyway, this bingo is on Sunday, February 10th, at 2 pm. If you can help, you will be expected to be at the VA at 1:30 pm,
meeting at the Community Living Center. Please give Cindy a call at 714 308-2862 to let her know if you can make it.

Another unit project is the Americanism Essay Contest. We have connections for at least one classroom, and feelers out for another. We need a group of essay readers for judging - if interested, email me - and if any of you have contact with a teacher that would like to promote this, let me know. I handed out the basic info at January’s meeting, but needed to wait until now to make sure it was accurate and up to date. We need to be organized by the first week in February at the latest, as all essays need to be back to us by March 1st. Please note - we will have a special spot for our little ones who may want to write about what the American flag means to them - this is unit support only, but some of our kindergarten, first and second graders may have something to say, and we want to encourage their love of country
too.

I had something here about the Save the Coast Guard Pay Act, but just as I sent this to Mary, I found out the government was opening and people were going to get paid. But I am keeping the representative’s name in this email so you all have it if there is a call to action. If something comes up we should be supporting, I will encourage all members to write to Congressional Representative Alan Lowenthal, who represents our local district which includes the Post and the Joint Forces Training Base. His mailing address is 12865 Main Street, Suite 200, Garden Grove 92840. His website says he cannot respond to emails, but there is a Facebook connection - http://www.facebook.com/RepLowenthal .

A little birdie told me our Eboard rep Barbara Schrack will be having knee surgery soon, and will be away from the Post recuperating for a month. We send her our best wishes for a speedy recovery - we will miss her!

A special thanks to those members that represented at the building of the Rose Parade Legion float - I know Cheryl Eubanks and Leslie Gonyea were there, I saw the pictures - we had Legion members there too - 716 was in the house, which is great, because I know there were lots of possible volunteers that wanted to their part.

The post is doing Super Bowl Sunday if you need a party to go to - if it is anything like the playoffs last Sunday, it will be great - even I, who have no interest in all this football hoopla, ended up staying for both playoff games because it was so much fun.

Just a note - since we usually have an agenda for our membership meetings, it is really helpful if you contact me ahead of time if you have a special project or presentation to make (thanks, Toni, I have you in my notes). February’s meeting is business as usual, but I hope to have
something special in March - will keep you posted.

That’s it for now - I am trying to keep this formatted so I don’t end up with one sentence on the last sheet of the email. Thanks again to Leslie for getting the minutes to me toot sweet, so they can be included in the newsletter. For those of you looking for it, the word of the month is “representation” - let’s get out there and let everyone know what we stand for!
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‘Til next time - Deborah

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NEXT MEETING 
MONDAY
FEBRUARY 11@7PM
Shaina Jefferson
Mary Ann Edwards
Leslie Sevillano

Los Alamitos Unit 716 Officers 2018-2019

President - Deborah Driscoll
First Vice - Kelly Huff
Second Vice - Susana Stevens
Secretary - Leslie Goneya
Treasurer - Lori Soutar
Sgt at Arms and Historian - Krista Young
Marshall - Joanie Harris
Parliamentarian - Mary Hernandez
E-Board
Cheryl Eubanks
Barbara Schrack
Joanie Redman
Junior Past president - Irene Hallam

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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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