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• Wednesday, September 02, 2015

  NY Dept. Cheered for Size of Charitable Donation

  

  New York’s Frank Peters drew applause and cheers when he announced the amount of the Department’s charitable donation. He is flanked by Dept. Adjutant Jim Casey (left) and Dept. Commander Jim Yermas.

  BALTIMORE – The Department of New York drew cheers and applause from the sea of delegates at the American Legion National Convention Wednesday morning when New York Delegation Chairman and 2014-2015 Department Commander Frank Peters announced that New Yorkers contributed $142,357 to the National Emergency Fund (NEF).

  

  National Commander Michael Helm (right) presents NEF donation award to Delegation Chair Frank Peters (2nd from right) and Dept. Commander Jim Yermas (3rd from right). At left is national membership chair Kenneth Orrock.

  New York also received a top award from National Commander Michael Helm for far surpassing his challenge to the Department to raise $35,000 for NEF, which aids displaced Legion families. Peters and Department Commander James Yermas  accepted the award on behalf of New York members.

  That’s not all. The generosity of New York members made it possible for the Department to donate a quarter million dollars to American Legion charities, Peters later said.

  “Our total contributions” to American Legion charities for the past year “amount to $264,073.15,” he said.

  Peters explained the donations this way:

  — National Emergency Fund: “$45,727 was transmitted to National prior to convention. This amount alone exceeded the national commander’s challenge of $35,000, resulting in the Department of New York receiving an award for meeting our assigned goal and achieving the highest percentage within our category. We then presented the national commander with an additional $96,630.90, bringing the total NEF donation to $142,357.”

  — Legacy Scholarship Fund (which provides scholarships to children of fallen warriors): $7,797.00 was transmitted to National prior to convention. We presented the national commander with an additional 49,927.61, bringing our total Legacy Scholarship Fund contribution to $57,724.61.”

  — Operation Comfort Warriors (which provides equipment and comfort items to wounded warriors): “$29,330.31 was transmitted to National prior to convention. We’re presenting the national commander with an additional $13,493.92, bringing our total Operation Comfort Warrior contribution to $42,975.56.”

  — Child Welfare Foundation (which provides grants to non-profits that help children): “$20,330.31 was transmitted to National prior to convention. We presented the national commander with an additional $684.77, bringing our total Child Welfare Fund contribution to $21,015.08.”