Making a Difference Through Hospital Volunteering

Did you know you can earn pins for your Hospital Volunteering? Members can earn a VFW Auxiliary Na-tional Pin to any member in good standing, for a minimum of 150 hours of hospital volunteering (includes VA and non-VA) hours. There is a submittal form under MALTA for Hospital Chairman to submit their vol-unteers for their devoted work.

Did you know you can earn a VFW Auxiliary National Recruiting Charm? Each member who recruits one or more volunteers between July 1 and May 31can earn a charm. There is a submittal form under MALTA for this.

What kind of volunteering opportunities have you done with your Auxiliary?

(please note all volunteers must be dressed appropriately for the positions they are volunteering for. If the facility has official vests or shirts, they should be worn, if badges are required, they too must be visible to any facility employee)

I want to highlight the importance of volunteering under the VFW Auxiliary Program:

Volunteering Privacy

• Anything a volunteer hears, sees, or is privy to must be confidential, discussing anything about a Veteran is against the HIPAA Act.

• A volunteer should never discuss benefit eligibly or counsel a Veteran.

• Generally, all information a Veteran might share with you is strictly confidential.

• Lastly, I’ll note that it is best to keep conversation to niceties, nothing personal, this does include appearance. i.e. Niceties “It’s good to see you today”, inappropriate “you look awful, what’s going on with you?”.

I know this probably doesn’t happen much, as we are all professionals with this organization, but it does need to be repeated from time to time.

Don’t forget reporting to Department, quarterly or monthly, through the Department Programs Facebook page, mail, or email. Please be sure when reporting you include the Auxiliary number, name, number of volunteers, activity, expenses and mileage. Photos are always wel-come.

The Department Hospital Program has a hospital Christmas Fund. To be sure our Veterans have a wonderful Christmas your auxiliary is en-couraged to have your donations to our Department Treasurer by the end of November. Note Christmas Hospital Fund when submitting your donation to the Department Treasurer.

Don’t forget to get your quotas in too, this is an important goal of each auxiliary that supports all facilities.

Together, we can make a lasting impact in the lives of those who have served our country. Thank you for supporting our VETERANS!

Remember our mission, every member has a voice for serving “Our Veterans, Their Families, and the Community”,

“Serving America’s Heroes” and “The Power of One”