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VETERANS' ORGANIZATIONS BATTLE PERCEPTION --
"When you go into a VFW, you have the mindset
that
it's older gentlemen...A lot of people don't
like that
and don't want to get involved, either."
Story here...
http://www.timesonline.com/
site/news.cfm?newsid=18563980
&BRD=2305&PAG=461&de
pt_id=478569&rfi=6
Story below:
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Veterans' clubs battle perception
Larissa Theodore - Times Staff
ROCHESTER - Nicki Ray-Hill and Bill Wright, leaders at the Rochester
Veterans of Foreign Wars post, say the perception people have of the
organization is antiquated. People think the VFW is a man's club for
older veterans, those who served in the world wars, Korea or Vietnam,
and is not necessarily fitting for younger veterans - and not for women.
"I think, from my own experience," Ray-Hill said, "when you go into a
VFW, you have the mindset that it's older gentlemen. ... A lot of people
don't like that and don't want to get involved, either."
But the Rochester VFW, Junction City Post 128, chartered in 1929 and one
of the oldest in the state, doesn't want to fit that mold and is working
hard to turn around the perception.
And it's working. While most service organizations are losing
membership, the Rochester post's rolls are growing, and the group is
about to build new headquarters.
Ray-Hill definitely doesn't fit the stereotype. At 37 years old, she is
among the youngest members, and she recently became the post's first
female quartermaster, in charge of funding, membership and other
operations.
The post could break ground on the new headquarters by spring, next door
to the current building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The building used today
was once a church before the post began operating there in the 1940s.
Wright, commander of the post, said the building will be torn down after
the new post is built, and the spot will be paved for a parking lot.
Even with an $800,000 development on the horizon, and 267 members - 201
of them with life memberships - Wright said he would love to attract
more young people, and they are working to recruit them. Sometimes they
go out and visit soldiers at the 911th Air Force Reserve base in Moon
Township.
"We go out of our way to meet these guys and talk to them," Wright said.
The problem is, he said, many veterans put off joining until their 40s
and 50s, taking time out instead to raise their families and work at
their jobs. When they finally get that "slack time," they decide to
check it out and get involved.
"A lot of the younger people aren't ready," Wright said.
Wright thinks the planned new two-story building, one with several
meeting rooms, a memorial, an elevator and nearby handicapped parking,
could be an enticement to join. Ray-Hill, who has developed an e-mail
address for the post, could also be a saving grace. Having a young face,
with new ideas, is probably what is needed to propel the post into the
21st century. Ray-Hill started out as a social member but was talked
into serving as a junior vice commander under Wright for a year.
Ray-Hill likes being involved. When she came back from Afghanistan as a
sergeant first class in the Army Reserve in 2004, she said she wanted to
join "just to be around the veterans."
"It's nice to be around people that understand," she said.
And with all of the activities they do - dinner for veterans at the
Butler VA Hospital, putting flags on graves and doing highway cleanups,
donating money to area organizations, and being advocates for servicemen
and women - Wright and Ray-Hill say you have to want to be involved. The
group's motto, Wright said, is honoring the dead by serving the living.
"I'm proud of the people we have here," Wright said. "We're here for
vets, for our community, and ... our door is open to all vets of any
era."
Larissa Theodore can be reached online at
ltheodore@timesonline.com.
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Larry Scott --
