October Meeting Brief

October 23, 2017

Chapter 5 Meeting After Action Keeping Our Members in the know!!!

At our meeting on Saturday October 21st, we discussed several key topics. For those that attended and those unable to, this is a brief summary of the meeting. We want to keep our family in the know.

What we did/discussed this month:
Once again, we had approximately 70 members attending
We welcomed several new members into our family. Welcome to all. We had a guest join us from Wisconsin
Guest Speaker
Carla Strong Supervisor of the Choice Program
I have added a couple of links for the Choice program on the NATIONAL NEWS tab on the website
There is a program called Veterans CARE (Coordinated Access & Rewarding Experiences) Act being looked at

National Service Office NSO (Frank Tejeda)
They are still looking to add another NSO

Chapter Service Officer (CSO)
The CSO office at Wayland Baptist University on I35N at Weidner opened on Thursday, October 5th
There were 4 CSO’s there and we helped approximately 20 veterans with paperwork/questions
The office will be open the 1st Thursday of every month from 1300-1700 hours (or longer if needed)
We need more CSO’s to show up
We could use a couple of volunteers to help sign in veterans and answer generic questions about the DAV/chapter
These hours go towards LVAP hours
Please pass the word to any veteran you know
New diseases have been added to the list of health concerns for veterans that may have spent time at Camp Lejeune or Ft McClelland. Some information be found on our website

I want to caution all CSO’s to be very aware of the FIOA and HIPPA regulations when helping veterans. Contact may have to held in another part of the church or after the meeting. Privacy must be maintained at all times

Volunteers:
Remember as the largest chapter in Texas we have the lowest amount of volunteer hours
We need to start taking credit for all the Great work we do for our veterans
The chapter is slowly gaining a great reputation for volunteering

Volunteer Hours:
We need to account for all our volunteer hours
CSO’s need to account for their time assisting the veterans
If you go to Floresville Veterans Home, or any place and spend time with veterans
Time spent helping with the Forget Me Nots, Golden Corral, etc
If you not registered with the state, you will need to complete the Registration form AND the form to submit the hours
The paper work necessary to submit volunteer hours can be located on our chapter website
I am taking the responsibility to be the contact for the monthly report to the state
Send you information to me in an email or bring it to the chapter meeting and I will combine all hours into one report
Audie Murphy and the VA in general are always looking for volunteers
Ft Sam Houston Cemetery is looking for admin volunteers
I had added a link to Volunteer Hours on the website
DAV has a scholarship program for high school students. The countrywide awards are based on their number of volunteer hours
The DAV gives $75K in Scholarships to students every year
Information may be found here DAV SCHOLARSHIPS

Membership:
We still need members to meet our recruitment goal for 2017
As has been reported we have added several new members. Keep up the good work
There are several awards/rewards for signing up members
There is a convenient, fast, paperless mobile phone app to help members signup new members
This link provides more information http://davalamo5.org/membership-sign-up-information/

Women’s Veteran Advocate:
Several updates have been sent our in emails and updated on our website

PAO information:
VA and Social Security payment will receive a 2% COLA starting in January
The VA is now providing ID cards to all Honorably discharged veterans.
These new ID cards will help the veterans identify themselves as a veteran to receive discounts on purchases
Medicare is removing the Social Security number from their cards. This goes into effect in April 2018. They will automatically send out the new cards.
The lab at Audie Murphy is now open from 0800-1200 hours Saturday’s and Sunday’s
If you have a DV license plate, please be courteous and not use the handicap parking places—if you do not really need them
DV license plates (only) are not authorized to park in the Handicap parking places at the Audie Murphy Hospital. You must have a Blue Placard or the wheelchair on your license plate
Do Not take a picture with a politician wearing any kind of DAV apparel. The DAV is a nonpartisan organization. We get our funding from everyone

National DAV 5K Run/Walk/Roll/Ride To Honor Veterans
This event is fast approaching
I did a Public Service Announcement on KTSA radio for this event.
You can listen to the PSA here
There is still a need for volunteers and participants
Information and sign up can be located at http://www.dav5k.org/events/san-antonio/
These hours can be used as volunteer hours and provide more visibility for our chapter
There will be a volunteer meeting on Nov 2nd. Locations should be the El Tropicana Hotel in downtown San Antonio. Time is to be determined

Golden Corral Veterans Day Fundraising:
We will have a table set up on Nov 10th-13th
Time will be from 1000-1700 hours on the 10th-12th
Nov 13th is the actual Golden Corral Veterans Day free meal
We will be there till approximately closing
Location is 9111 N Loop 1604 W. Loop 1604 and Bandera Roads
Volunteers will be needed each day and they eat free every day they volunteer

Miscellaneous
We received a Thank You card from the supervisor of the Bone Marrow Unit at Audie Murphy for our help providing HEB gift certificates to the bone marrow families
The Community Life Center (CLC) Bingo Party was a huge success. We were asked to come back again in 2018. Dates have been added to the calendar on the website
It was great to see Jim Davis able to attend after his round of chemo therapy
Vince Emery, Carolyn Adkins and I attended the BAMC Retiree Appreciation Day
Several contacts for possible memberships were obtained and I was able to help several veterans with claims related issues
Effective Jan 2018 the DOD and Tricare will be moving out of the North Central Federal Clinic (off Gold Canyon and Henderson Pass). They will be going to the 2nd floor of a Texas Med Clinic. More information to follow
BAMC now has on line medication re-ordering
They, also, have launched a website to help track wait time
BAMC now has blue bins to help recycle old outdated medications
Information has been added to a BAMC tab on the website
The Bingo machine for the CLC should be here soon. They have been waiting on a part
5 officers were delegated to attend the State Mid-Winter Training in Corpus in January
I was asked to assist in selling merchandise by the State Judge Advocate/National Senior Vice Commander Dennis Nixon

Happy birthday to all October birthdays

• Ralph Parris would still appreciate visitors. He is in Room #110 Meridian Care, 7181 Crestway Drive, San Antonio, TX, 78239
• Lula Emery (past DAVA Commander and our Commanders wife) is still recovering. Please keep her in mind as she slowly recovers
• Robert Rayl is recovering. He is able to go without his back brace for periods at a time.
• Jim Davis was able to attend the meeting. Welcome back Jim
• Leroy Rogers is at home and slowly recovering
• Harry Ruthrauff uncle passed away earlier this month
• If you know of any chapter member that may be under the weather, please let one of our chaplains/officers know so we may visit and check on them
• Please keep all our members and veterans in harm’s way in our prayers

DAV5K Run, Walk, Roll, Ride Event:
Nov 4th
Alamo Brewing Company
202 Lamar Street, SATX

Golden Corral Veterans Day Fundraiser:
Friday Nov 10th – Monday Nov 13th
From 1000-1700 hours (longer on Monday)
9111 N Loop 1604 W
San Antonio, TX 78249
Volunteers are always appreciated and eat free when volunteering

Bingo at Veterans Home:
Sunday Dec 3rd
1400-1600 hours
Frank Tejeda Texas Veterans Home
200 Veterans Dr., Floresville, TX
Volunteers are always appreciated

Women In The Military
Wednesday Nov 8th
1830-2130 hours
El Progreso Hall
306 Guadalupe St, SATX

November Meeting:
Nov 18th at 0930 hours
Rolling Oaks Baptist Church
6401 Wenzel Rd, SATX 78233
Hope to see everyone there

Veterans Day Celebration
Friday Nov 3rd
1100-1400 hours
BAMC Garden Entrance Lawn

Bingo at the Community Life Center:
Sunday Dec 2nd
1400-1600 hours
Audie Murphy VA Hospital
Volunteers are always appreciated

All the officers would like to thank everyone who attended the Meeting on Saturday. We hope this provides more information to those who were there. For those who were not in attendance, it was a great meeting and good food.

Post Views: 11

Chapter 5 Meeting After Action Keeping Our Members in the know!!!

At our meeting on Saturday October 21st, we discussed several key topics. For those that attended and those unable to, this is a brief summary of the meeting. We want to keep our family in the know.

What we did/discussed this month:

Once again, we had approximately 70 members attending

We welcomed several new members into our family. Welcome to all. We had a guest join us from Wisconsin

Guest Speaker

Carla Strong Supervisor of the Choice Program

I have added a couple of links for the Choice program on the NATIONAL NEWS tab on the website

There is a program called Veterans CARE (Coordinated Access & Rewarding Experiences) Act being looked at

National Service Office NSO (Frank Tejeda)

They are still looking to add another NSO

Chapter Service Officer (CSO)

The CSO office at Wayland Baptist University on I35N at Weidner opened on Thursday, October 5th

There were 4 CSO’s there and we helped approximately 20 veterans with paperwork/questions

The office will be open the 1st Thursday of every month from 1300-1700 hours (or longer if needed)

We need more CSO’s to show up

We could use a couple of volunteers to help sign in veterans and answer generic questions about the DAV/chapter

These hours go towards LVAP hours

Please pass the word to any veteran you know

New diseases have been added to the list of health concerns for veterans that may have spent time at Camp Lejeune or Ft McClelland. Some information be found on our website

I want to caution all CSO’s to be very aware of the FIOA and HIPPA regulations when helping veterans. Contact may have to held in another part of the church or after the meeting. Privacy must be maintained at all times

Volunteers:

Remember as the largest chapter in Texas we have the lowest amount of volunteer hours

We need to start taking credit for all the Great work we do for our veterans

The chapter is slowly gaining a great reputation for volunteering

Volunteer Hours:

We need to account for all our volunteer hours

CSO’s need to account for their time assisting the veterans

If you go to Floresville Veterans Home, or any place and spend time with veterans

Time spent helping with the Forget Me Nots, Golden Corral, etc

If you not registered with the state, you will need to complete the Registration form AND the form to submit the hours

The paper work necessary to submit volunteer hours can be located on our chapter website

I am taking the responsibility to be the contact for the monthly report to the state

Send you information to me in an email or bring it to the chapter meeting and I will combine all hours into one report

Audie Murphy and the VA in general are always looking for volunteers

Ft Sam Houston Cemetery is looking for admin volunteers

I had added a link to Volunteer Hours on the website

DAV has a scholarship program for high school students. The countrywide awards are based on their number of volunteer hours

The DAV gives $75K in Scholarships to students every year

Information may be found here DAV SCHOLARSHIPS

Membership:

We still need members to meet our recruitment goal for 2017

As has been reported we have added several new members. Keep up the good work

There are several awards/rewards for signing up members

There is a convenient, fast, paperless mobile phone app to help members signup new members

This link provides more information http://davalamo5.org/membership-sign-up-information/

Women’s Veteran Advocate:

Several updates have been sent our in emails and updated on our website

PAO information:

VA and Social Security payment will receive a 2% COLA starting in January

The VA is now providing ID cards to all Honorably discharged veterans.

These new ID cards will help the veterans identify themselves as a veteran to receive discounts on purchases

Medicare is removing the Social Security number from their cards. This goes into effect in April 2018. They will automatically send out the new cards.

The lab at Audie Murphy is now open from 0800-1200 hours Saturday’s and Sunday’s

If you have a DV license plate, please be courteous and not use the handicap parking places—if you do not really need them

DV license plates (only) are not authorized to park in the Handicap parking places at the Audie Murphy Hospital. You must have a Blue Placard or the wheelchair on your license plate

Do Not take a picture with a politician wearing any kind of DAV apparel. The DAV is a nonpartisan organization. We get our funding from everyone

National DAV 5K Run/Walk/Roll/Ride To Honor Veterans

This event is fast approaching

I did a Public Service Announcement on KTSA radio for this event.

You can listen to the PSA here

There is still a need for volunteers and participants

Information and sign up can be located at http://www.dav5k.org/events/san-antonio/

These hours can be used as volunteer hours and provide more visibility for our chapter

There will be a volunteer meeting on Nov 2nd. Locations should be the El Tropicana Hotel in downtown San Antonio. Time is to be determined

Golden Corral Veterans Day Fundraising:

We will have a table set up on Nov 10th-13th

Time will be from 1000-1700 hours on the 10th-12th

Nov 13th is the actual Golden Corral Veterans Day free meal

We will be there till approximately closing

Location is 9111 N Loop 1604 W. Loop 1604 and Bandera Roads

Volunteers will be needed each day and they eat free every day they volunteer

Miscellaneous

We received a Thank You card from the supervisor of the Bone Marrow Unit at Audie Murphy for our help providing HEB gift certificates to the bone marrow families

The Community Life Center (CLC) Bingo Party was a huge success. We were asked to come back again in 2018. Dates have been added to the calendar on the website

It was great to see Jim Davis able to attend after his round of chemo therapy

Vince Emery, Carolyn Adkins and I attended the BAMC Retiree Appreciation Day

Several contacts for possible memberships were obtained and I was able to help several veterans with claims related issues

Effective Jan 2018 the DOD and Tricare will be moving out of the North Central Federal Clinic (off Gold Canyon and Henderson Pass). They will be going to the 2nd floor of a Texas Med Clinic. More information to follow