Well, here it is, the end of October and we are at 91.61%. Our goal at this time is to be at least 95% by December 31st, 2026, and we will make double the money from National for making that goal. One of corporate sponsors is giving money to Departments when they make certain goals through the year. The first goal is 95%, and we have 2 months to make it. I am going to give everyone an incentive so that we can make that goal. I am going to give a late Christmas present to the two people in the department that get the most new or renewed members between November 1st and December 31st. I will be keeping track of the membership, and I will announce the winners at the Mid-Winter conference. So please look at your old lists and see if there are members that quit but want to get back into the membership. I will be sending out emails to the presidents and treasurers of all the auxiliaries to inform them of this incentive, so please let your members know about it.

We have 8 auxiliaries and 1 district that is over 100% for the year this year. There are several other auxiliaries that are very close to being 100% and only 1 or 2 are needed to make it. The highest percentage auxiliaries are Aux. 4070- 129.63% and Aux. 3452- 102.38%. The one district that is over 100% is District #4 and they are at 100.54%. We need to get more auxiliaries above 100% so please, always keep an application with you so that if you find someone that would like to join, you can give them one right then. And don’t hold your applications, get the members voted on and send the application to me right away.
We have a contest going on between our Commander and our President for membership this year. If the auxiliary gets more members than the Post gets, we will have a costume contest at Department convention and Joe will be wearing some cute outfits at the Department Convention. So we want to get more members than the Post, so please start having recruiting booths at your bazaars, your Veterans Day ceremony, and your other events the rest of the year. Memberships is a vital program of the VFW and please try to get new members for your auxiliary.

Thank you so much for the treasurers that is getting their applications in a timely manner. I am finding some that are a couple of months after you vote them in, please try to get them in quicker. Also if you are having someone pay by credit card, either the life membership or annual member, let them know that they will be getting a text message or email from National to give their credit card information. They have a month from the day that I submit their application to contact National or they become expired and they must be resubmitted. Right now, I have 5 applications that are expired and I have contacted all the treasurers to see what we are going to do with these applications and some I haven’t heard from so please let your potential member know that they need to get the information in right away.
I hope that you have a great Halloween and a good Thanksgiving holiday. Remember those who may not have people to spend the holiday with and try to make things a little brighter for them. I am looking forward to a quick trip to Arizona for Western Conference and then time with my family.