We are back with all the latest about the American Legion Auxiliary and Department of Idaho.
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.
Purposes
In fulfillment of our Mission, the
American Legion Auxiliary adheres to the following purposes:
To support and advocate for veterans, active military
and their families. To support the initiatives and programs of The American
Legion To foster patriotism and responsible citizenship. To award scholarships and promote quality education and
literacy. To provide educational and leadership opportunities
that uphold the ideals of freedom and democracy and encourage good citizenship
and patriotism in government. To increase our capacity to deliver our Mission by
providing meaningful volunteer opportunities within our communities. To empower our membership to achieve personal
fulfillment through "service not self"
Values
Our statement of values is
predicated on the founding purposes....
Commitment to the four founding principles; - Justice, Freedom, Democracy, Loyalty Service to God, our country, its veterans and their
families. Tradition of patriotism and citizenship, personal integrity and family values. Respect for the uniqueness of individual members with truthful open communication in dealing with the public
and our members. Adherence to the adopted policies and rules
Peggy Thomas was
elected at the 92nd National Convention held August 25-30, 2012 in Indianapolis,
IN.
Peggy Thomas joined
the American Legion Auxiliary through her late husband, John C. Thomas, a U.S.
Army veteran. She is the first national president from Virginia since Anna Gear
in 1983-1984.
Thomas, a 31-year
member of the Auxiliary, has held numerous leadership positions in the
organization at the unit, district and department levels. At the national
level, she just completed her term as vice president and has served as chairman
of the following committees: Veteran Affairs & Rehabilitation, Children
& Youth, Leadership, National Security, Constitution & Bylaws, Poppy,
Legislative, and Membership. She has served her Virginia department as
president, secretary and chairman of a variety of committees including the
Advisory Committee for 10 years. Thomas served Auxiliary Unit 144 as president
twice and as secretary, and Unit 137 as president. She has held all
chairmanships in both units.
A retired vice
president of a petroleum distributorship with three divisions, Thomas continues
the American Legion Auxiliary motto of Service Not Self by volunteering as the
Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service deputy at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VAMC in
Richmond, Va. She was listed in
Thomas has one married
daughter, Lisa, and is currently a member of Lutheran Church of Our Savior,
National Association of Parliamentarians, and the Bellwood Defense Supply
Womenice, President of M. Stanley Ryan Unit of Parliamentarians.
The Department of Idaho American Legion Auxiliary is being led this year by Barbara Gehring. Her love of the Auxiliary Poppy is evident with her theme that goes along with membership and is "Membership One Petal at a Time" . Barbara is eligible for membership through the service of her late husband Ronald L. Gehring who served in the Marines from 1966-1975. Barbara has three children, Hope, Charity and Gary who is a 21 year member of the USAF, she has six grandchildren and they are a Legion Family as everyone supports the military and America. Barbara is a member of Roland Evans Unit #3 in American Falls and has served many positions in the unit and district before assuming the office of Department President.
Barbara's officers for 2012-2013 are: Jo-Ann Rasmussen Department Vice President and building on the National Membership theme of "Soaring to New Heights with Angels in Service" Jo-Ann's theme "Building our Membership One Feather at a Time". Please dedicate yourself to helping Idaho again reach 100% of their numeric objective by transmitting your membership in a timely manner. The four target dates are:
Beth Beedle is the Department Historian and she encourages members to record Histories so those who follow will know what Auxiliary members have done for Veterans, their communities and the youth who participate in the programs that are offered.
Bird Derrick Department Chaplian wants to help in any of your spiritual needs. She asks that you collect prayers and thoughts so she can make a Prayer Book for our President to be presented at the Summer Convention.
We have a mother daughter team working for in the office, Mary/Mom and her daughter Mary Sue. Mary Price is the Department Treasurer and Membership Clerk and Mary Sue Chase is the Department Secretary.
As Department Sgt./Arms and Asst. Sgt./Arms is another mother-daughter team. Katie O'Dowd and Judy Bridges, they insure that proper respect is shown to the flag and they maintain order during meetings.
Keeping President Barbara in perfect Parliamentary Order is Joyce Black who is the Parliamentarian for the Department.
Department 2nd Vice Presidents are the District Presidents, they are:
Peggy Thomas was
elected at the 92nd National Convention held August 25-30, 2012 in Indianapolis,
IN.
Barbara's officers for 2012-2013 are: