The Gifts That Keep Giving

Prior to this semester, I was oblivious to the contributions that veterans make to society after serving. The presence of Veteran Foreign Wars (VFW) in the military community is one of those of those contributions. Recently I met a gentleman by the name of Howard Adams who is the post commander of Post 194 Meuse Post in the Salisbury, Maryland area, and learned about the impact that this organization has not only their fellow veterans, but also within the community that they are located and other charities throughout the country.

According to their website, the VFW has made its mark in the military world since 1899, when veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection founded local organization to help secure rights and benefits for their service. Since then, the VFW has grown immensely in numbers and has contributed in the creation of the Veterans Administration, creating a GI bill for the 20^th century, and the development of the national cemetery system.

While speaking to Adams, it wasn’t the fact that their VFW helps veterans with their transition of coming home after being overseas or serving at a particular branch and giving those men and women a place to be amongst their peers and have a haven to bond and relax that necessarily impressed me. It was their willingness as an organization to continue to give to this country and help those in need. The nearly 2 million members of the VFW contribute more than 8.6 million hours of volunteerism in the community. Raising money for a number of charities throughout the country, even providing over $3 million in college scholarships and savings bonds to students every year, the VFW has been another vehicle for these selfless men and women that are veterans to continue serving this country and display their giving ways.

It amazes when I think about it that majority of the members of the VFW has been sacrificing and giving back to this country for majority of their lives without looking for much in return. It shows the great amount of generous people that are in this world that are consistently overlooked and never given the proper acknowledgement. Are you aware of other veteran organizations that contribute to our country? If so, which ones?