Field Reports

San Pedro/South Bay (Calif.) Chapter Supports Veterans’ Program

Viola Whitlow, first vice president of the San Pedro/South Bay (Calif.) Chapter, was working as a volunteer at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System in Long Beach, Calif., five years ago when she first heard about the U.S. Vets Villages at Cabrillo. Founded in 2000 in Long Beach and situated on 26 acres of former Navy housing, the Villages at Cabrillo works to break the cycle of homelessness among veterans and their families by providing career services, workforce development, and counseling in a transitional housing setting.

Whitlow decided to volunteer to organize clothes, shoes, furniture, and other donated items. She also told her fellow chapter members about the good work being done. As a result, the chapter invited Steven Peck, the director of community development and the administrator of the Villages at Cabrillo, to speak at a chapter meeting. Peck, who is a Vietnam veteran and the son of the late actor Gregory Peck, inspired the 233-member chapter to get involved and support the program.

Each year for the past four years, the chapter has donated approximately $3,000 to the Villages at Cabrillo, according to chapter President Maj. Edwin Baumann, USAF-Ret. Members also donate furniture and clothing, which are collected by Col. Carl A. Forbrich Jr., USAF-Ret., who also heads up the annual fundraising drive.

Whitlow says the donations facility has grown over the years and now occupies more than 4,000 square feet. Not surprisingly, she’s “always looking for someone to help hang up clothes and keep things clean.”

In addition to helping the Villages at Cabrillo, chapter members support a local Junior ROTC unit. Each year, the chapter awards a $500 college scholarship to one outstanding cadet. Members also contributed to The Scholarship Fund of MOAA’s 75th anniversary campaign and received a 10 percent participation ribbon.

Chapter Hosts New Jersey’s Adjutant General

Members of the South Jersey (N.J.) Chapter took the first step toward broadening their membership base when they invited New Jersey’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, to speak at the chapter’s October 2004 meeting. At the meeting, Rieth outlined the important work being done by the state’s guardmembers.

Like many other MOAA chapters, the South Jersey Chapter is largely comprised of retired military officers and a few active duty servicemembers. During the past year, the chapter has focused on recruiting more active duty servicemembers as well as Guard and Reserve officers.

“We’re making an effort to get in with the Guard and Reserve,” says chapter President Lt. Col. Robert Poksay, USAF-Ret. “A month after the adjutant general spoke, I contacted the commander of a reserve unit in Atlantic City [N.J.], and I invited him to a meeting so we could learn more about his outfit.”

The South Jersey Chapter’s efforts to broaden its membership base seem to be working. Last year, the chapter recruited 21 new members, according to Lt. j.g. Jim Casto, USCGR-Ret., membership chairperson and public affairs officer.

The chapter recruited several members after it launched a direct mail campaign using a mailing list provided by national MOAA. The list contained the names of national members who lived in the area but didn’t belong to the chapter.

To increase awareness, the chapter ran ads in local newspapers. Casto also made sure the chapter’s meeting times appeared in the newspapers’ community calendar of events, and several press releases he submitted were picked up and published as well.

Hampton Roads (Va.) Chapter Recruits at USNI Symposium 

For the third year in a row, members of the Hampton Roads (Va.) Chapter worked at a recruiting booth at the U.S. Naval Institute’s Ninth Annual Warfare Exposition and Symposium, which was held Sept. 29-30, 2004, at the Pavilion Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Va.

Chapter leaders sent out more than 1,000 invitations to the event. Chapter members also were invited
to attend so they could learn more about current military events.

Thousands of active duty servicemembers attended this year’s expo. To make their recruiting booth stand out, chapter leaders displayed MOAA’s emblem, the American flag, and the chapter’s flag complete with battle-streamers indicating it was one of the association’s five-star chapters. Chapter officers also handed out copies of Military Officer and Today’s Officer with a copy of the chapter’s newsletter tucked inside.

“Our booth looked great, thanks to the marketing displays and tablecloth MOAA provided,” says chapter President Cmdr. John Vermillion, USN-Ret. “It enticed officers to enter and find out what MOAA had to offer them.”

Chapter members recruited more than 18 new members on the spot—most of whom were active duty officers. Leaders from the Hampton Roads Chapter also recruited four new members for another MOAA chapter in the area and handed out national membership applications to officers who lived in other parts of the country.

“Our chapter’s recruiting effort at this symposium was a great success, and we plan to participate again next year,” says chapter First Vice President Capt. Ray Hart, USN-Ret.

Tampa (Fla.) Chapter Offers a Helping Hand

The phone lines at WVTV Fox 13 in Tampa, Fla., lit up on Veterans Day 2004 after “Your Turn” host Kathy Fountain aired a half-hour segment on Operation Helping Hand, a service project started by the Tampa Chapter.

Capt. Bob Silah, USN-Ret., chapter president and chairperson of Operation Helping Hand, told viewers the project began because chapter members wanted to support the families of wounded and injured servicemembers who are being treated at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa. People who have benefitted from Operation Helping Hand also appeared on the show and talked about the support they received.

“The TV station had so many calls, they didn’t know what to do with them,” says Silah. “People were calling in and asking how they could contribute to Operation Helping Hand or what they could do to help.”

One of the nation’s busiest VA medical centers, the Haley facility has seen an increase in the number of servicemembers who need treatment in its comprehensive rehabilitation unit and spinal cord injury center. These servicemembers’ families often spend 45 days or more in the Tampa area while their loved one is being treated. During this difficult period, they must provide for themselves.

Lt. Col. Robert Sawallesh, USA-Ret., chapter member and vice chair of Operation Helping Hand, says several business and community leaders sit on the program’s advisory board. This community support has helped the chapter collect more than $13,000 in monetary donations and approximately $2,800 in coupons and gift certificates to make gift baskets for the servicemembers’ loved ones.

Chapter member Lt. Cmdr. David Lefavor, USN-Ret., a chaplain at the facility, says the welcome baskets have been a big hit with servicemembers’ families. Operation Helping Hand also sponsors weekly events and outings for family members.

For more information on Operation Helping Hand or to make an online donation, visit the Tampa Chapter’s Web site at www.moaatampa.com. Members also can contribute by sending a check made payable to MOAA Operation Helping Hand, P.O. Box 6383, MacDill AFB, FL 33608-0383.

Good Deeds Fund Helps Community

Members of the Cape Canaveral (Fla.) Chapter are providing financial support to worthwhile community efforts through their Good Deeds Fund.

According to chapter President Col. John D. Beeson, USAF-Ret., the fund was created to collect money for the many worthwhile causes chapter members support and allows the chapter to support new programs and projects as they arise without having to solicit additional donations.

Most of the money from the fund is used to support nearby Patrick AFB’s Christmas Basket and Patrick Pantry. This year, chapter members donated $6,000 to those programs, which help needy enlisted families from all service branches who reside on Florida’s “Space Coast.”

The fund also provided $500 to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army after Hurricane Charley, and the chapter donated $1,000 to the Brevard County School District after legislators decreed each classroom in Florida should have an American flag.

The Cape Canaveral chapter also has a scholarship fund that provided $20,000 in college scholarships to eight area students in 2004.