This isn’t about numbers of members, but it is about what the numbers represent. This is about serving our fellow Veterans and their families. This is about maintaining the Legacy that has been passed on to us. This is about service to our communities, the State, and Nation.
The Good News: We are on track and actually ahead of National’s membership goals for us.
The “Bad” News: We have less than 4% “market penetration.” Even when we hit the goals that Department and National have set for us, we will only have 7% of the Veterans in our 5 Counties belonging to this OUTSTANDING organization. There are about 72,400 Veterans living in Kenosha, Racine, Rock, Walworth, and Waukesha Counties. Those veterans and their families need us to lead them into this Legacy. They need us to tell them the story of The American Legion. They need us to remind them of their obligations to their community, State, and Nation. They need us to bring them along into the future of The American Legion and the future of “…the real America, the America worth fighting for.”
So, NOW IS THE TIME! Now is the time to call and talk to our current members. Challenge them to maintain their commitment to this organization. Now is the time to call and talk to those who recently joined and are being carried on the 2930 list. Now is the time to call those on the 2930 list from 2022 and 2021 and challenge them to renew their commitment; to remind them of the WIN that The American Legion just got for them out of Congress and the VA with the passage of the PACT Act. Send letters, call on the phone, text message, and even knock on doors.
County Commanders, please elicit from your Posts the dates of their membership rallies that are to be held NLT November 13TH. This can also be done by your County as a whole at the same time and location. I am happy to be present and make calls along with the rest of your leadership team. The more wins we have NOW, the easier March, April, and May will be.
Thank you for your hard work to date. It isn’t about the membership numbers to me, except that they reflect our impact on the lives of Veterans, on the community, on America. “To whom much is given, much is expected.” We have been given a legacy and we must not only maintain it, we must strengthen it and pass it on.
Bond
D1 Commander
262-215-3481
PS: Thanks again to all of you who were at the POW/MIA Silent March.