Neighbor News
American Legion Auxiliary Unit 24 to Celebrate Centennial
Did you know the American Legion Auxiliary is 100 years old? Learn more about what we do in your community.
The American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) 100th anniversary is November 10th. Plus, local American Legion Auxiliary Unit 24 (ALA24) was chartered the next day November 11, 1919. To celebrate 100 years, we invite everyone to our Centennial Birthday Party on Saturday, November 9th from 2PM to 5 PM.
ALA was founded in 1919 to support The American Legion and in less than one year 1,342 local units of the American Legion Auxiliary were formed in 45 states. ALA24 has been supporting veterans affairs and rehabilitation, national security, Americanism, as well as children and youth in our community for 100 years!
Just how much impact does ALA24 have in our community, state, and nation? Our fundraising and programs last year supported:
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- sending 5 high school delegates to Girls State teaching responsible citizenship in Tallahassee
- awarding 4 high school students each $1,000 scholarships
- raising over $2,200 in poppy donations to assist disabled and hospitalized veterans
- supporting over $6,000 to VA hospitals, veterans relief, homelessness, Wreaths Across America, Honor Flight, Fisher House, and other programs
- donating over $7,000 to various children and youth programs
- collecting over $30,000 in coupons for overseas and domestic military family needs
- volunteering 686 hours helping over 400 students adopting Manatee Elementary School
- providing a variety of community service hours with over $3,000 in donations
And so much more! Our members work in various committees on our programs to enable our motto of Service Not Self. We always need more volunteers to help support fundraising and expanding our outreach. On July 30th President Trump signed the LEGION Act (Let Everyone Get Involved In Opportunities for National Service Act) and at the August National ALA Convention an amendment to our constitution and bylaws was passed changing membership eligibility of ‘wives’ to ‘spouses. Thus, all spouses, grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and direct and adopted female descendants of members of The American Legion or veterans and servicemembers of the U.S. Armed Forces are now able to join us. Let’s continue to work together supporting your mission and programs for the next 100 years!
For more information, see ALA at https://www.alaforveterans.org/ and ALA Unit 24 at https://americanlegionauxiliaryunit24.business.site/