WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, WHY WE MATTER?
We are the American Legion Auxiliary. We are called to serve. We respect our country and the service of those who defend our freedoms. We are loyal to our United States Constitution and to those who protect it. We are humbled by the courage of our veterans and their families. We are alone, yet we stand together. We are daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. We are family. We are of every color. We are of every faith. We are of every age. We are anyone and everyone. We are common and extraordinary. We are citizens. We live in small towns. We live in suburbs. We live in cities. We work in fields, in factories, in warehouses, in offices, at home. We are a community. We help one another. We love our flag and all that it stands for. We are many. We are one. We are the American Legion Auxiliary: a community of volunteers serving veterans, military, and their families. We commit ourselves to the ideal “Service Not Self.”
Speaking of service. Let’s hear it for Sandi Dutton, past national president of the American Legion Auxiliary and a Beltsville resident, who reached out to the Veteran’s hospitals and medical clinics regarding their personal protective equipment and found a need there. Dutton took it upon herself to contact some close by American Legion Auxiliary Units to solicit funds for face masks and sanitizer, and seven units responded very generously—Unit #66, Unit #135, Unit #136, Unit # 206, Unit # 217, Unit # 268 and Unit # 275—enabling ordering to begin. Thus far, 250 masks have been sent to Perry Point VAMC, 50 each to four VA medical clinics, with more to the homeless. Sanitizers are now on the way to the Healthcare for the Homeless. In times of need, we all must do whatever we can to ensure our safety and the safety of others.
Let us pray for a vaccine soon to combat this horrible disease so we may once again meet our friends and families in comparative safety while working for our veterans, our youth, and our communities.
May God continue to bless you and yours as well as our military around the world as they strive for peace for all nations.