Hawthorne woman leads Nevada’s VFW Ladies Auxiliary delegation at nationals

Nevada’s President Mary Stroud of Hawthorne, a member of John Franklin Shain Ladies Auxiliary, #2313, recently led the state delegation of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the U.S. at the 100th National Convention at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville.

As leading representative of the state, she voiced the delegates’ votes during the election of National Officers at today’s session and played a key role in deciding the direction of the national organization for 2012-2013.

Highlights included the opportunity for members to view the eight winning Young American Creative Patriotic Art entries and the Buddy Poppy displays in addition to attending several joint events with the VFW, such as the Joint Opening Session and the Patriotic Rally on Tuesday evening.

During the convention, the national president commended the 2,000 attendees for all their hard work in honoring veterans and supporting deployed military personnel and their families. Members have spent millions of dollars and volunteer hours helping the heroes of our country.

The national president also thanked members for volunteering 1.2 million hours in the nation’s hospitals, raising $2.4 million for the organization’s Cancer Aid & Research Fund, and donating $315,000 to VFW National Military Services, which includes Operation UplinkTM to provide long-distance calling opportunities to deployed soldiers and hospitalized veterans.

Thousands of dollars have been donated to cancer research facilities across the country. National President Lemley sent funds to the Women in Military Service to America Memorial Foundation, the VFW Oklahoma Relief Fund for victims of the Spring tornadoes, the Hospitalized Veterans Writing Project and Warriors for Freedom.