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Commander’s Corner

Happy New Year!  Time to put those festive occasions behind us and quickly
get refocused on making our Membership Retention a Priority! Those
currently delinquent with your membership renewal must be immediately
addressed! Now’s the time to Renew your Membership so we can retain all
our members from last year (2017).

The first 6 months was a rapid accent that raised our hopes and fears from
meeting many legionnaire families, setting goals, participated in the National
ALR Legacy Run, attended the National Convention in Reno, Nevada, and then
dealt with a major hurricane that caused much damage, loss of power, that
forced us all to once again show the world that Floridians are resilient to these types of tests that mother nature sends our way. Truck loads of relief aid, and recovery / rebuilding supplies arrived daily for roughly 2 months from all over the United States. We thank you all for the thoughtful and caring people that helped – assisted us during our time of need. Rest assured that Florida will have your back when the next disaster
strikes.

I completed visits to the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, & 12th Districts, and I hosted our National Vice Commander of the Southeast Region Bobby Bryant (OK) visiting Posts in the 6th, 8th, 13th, and 16th Districts to include memorials, national cemetery, state nursing home, and VA Medical Centers.

I am now preparing to launch into a very aggressive visit schedule amongst many other planned activities in the coming months. Reminder that American Legion Baseball Registration kicks off as of January 1st, Florida’s American Legion College is 11th – 13th, Florida’s ALR Summit II in Cocoa Beach is 19th – 22nd, visitations with Posts of the 6th and 12th Districts, an offi cial visit of our National Commander Denise Rohan (WI), and Boy’s State Registration Fees ($450) due on the 31st to round out the month.

My New Year’s Resolutions included:

◊ A 100% Plus Membership year for Florida!
◊ Fulfilling our Pledge to Support our Florida American Legion Programs.
◊ To end this term filling our shoes with the next generation of American Legion membership who are willing and able to carry our legacy forward as we prepare to end the fi rst century of service to our communities, states, and nation.

For God & Country,

Steve Shuga
Department Commander

Donation request letters – Be sure to double check where the letter is coming from…

There are other American Legion Departments, including the National Headquarters that are soliciting donations to the Florida membership. Please make sure you DOUBLE CHECK where the letter is coming from and where they’re asking you to send in your donations.

The Department of Florida DOES NOT receive any portion of the donations going to National and other Departments. In order to insure your donation is staying within our state and benefitting our Veterans and their families, send them to the Department of Florida Headquarters Office.

Check out these photos below. If you take a closer look, these mailings are from National Headquarters and the Department of Oklahoma.

Post Excellence Award:

The Post Excellence Award program honors posts that excellence in membership participation, youth activities, community service, and support to veterans and U.S. troops.

Criteria:

• Membership. Post membership must be at least one member more than the previous year. A post officer must attend district meeting.
• Youth activities. The post must sponsor and actively participate in a least one primary youth program: Boy Scouts of America or Junior Shooting Sports.
• Community service. The post must organize a community service project that involves members of the Legion, Auxiliary or Sons of The American Legion. A monetary donation may only be one part of a project.
• Service to troops or veterans. The post must organize a project supporting or veterans (for example, Family Support Network or Operation Comfort Warriors) that involves members of the Legion, Auxiliary or SAL outside the post. A monetary donation may only be one part of the project.

Certification:

District Commander must certify Post as having fulfilled the four specified criteria, and submit a list of the posts name, address and commander’s name to department headquarters. If possible, accompany with copies of press releases submitted to local media that raise awareness for the project and enhance the Legion’s public image.

For more information, go to National’s website: http://www.legion.org/commander/postexcellence

If you have any questions please let us know about first. Commander@floridalegion.org or Call (407) 247-5232

Thank you for all you do for The American Legion Department of Florida!