Committees Membership Eligibility

Membership

Q: Who is eligible for membership in the Ladies Auxiliary?
A: The organization is made up of wives, widows, mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers (who performed the duty of parent), daughters, granddaughters, stepdaughters (who attain that status prior to age 16), sisters, half sisters, foster and stepsisters (who attained that status prior to age 16) of persons who were or are eligible for membership in the VFW.

Q: How large is the Ladies Auxiliary?
A: There are over 580,000 worldwide and over 8,500 in Virginia.

Q: Do they have programs of their own or do they just assist you with the VFW Programs?
A: While they assist us with our programs, they also have Auxiliary specific programs such as Patriotic Art, Cancer Aid and Research, Junior Girls, Girls Scouts and the Youth Volunteer Programs.

Q: What is the Cancer Aid and Research Program?
A: It is a program designed to raise funds to support cancer research through local, District and Department level fundraising efforts such as raffles, lunches, car washes, etc... These funds are collected locally and then combined with the funds from other Auxiliaries in the Department and then submitted to National. Some of the money is used for individual cancer grants to assist individual members and some of it is returned to the Department to be donated to a cancer researcher within the state. Our Ladies have raised over $70,000 within Virginia the last four years and Nationally the Ladies raised over $3,000,000.

Q: What is the Patriotic Art Program?
A: It is a contest open to youth in grades 9-12. The media used can range from pencil to oil to computer generated pictures. The rules governing entries specifying size, type of matting, use of flag representations, etc... can be found on the national website. Top prize is $10,000 with the winning entry displayed at the National Convention and published in the Auxiliary magazine.

Q: What is the Junior Girls Program?
A: Junior Girls is a program for girls aged 5-16 who conduct meetings and function as an adjunct to the Ladies Auxiliary. Not all Auxiliaries have Junior Girls programs. The scholarship program is based upon leadership roles the girls take within the Junior Girls and is worth $10,000 at the National Level.

Q: How is the Ladies Auxiliary connected to the Girl Scouts?
A: The Ladies Auxiliary has an awards program that complements the Girl Scouts Bronze, Silver, and Gold award levels.

Q: What is the Youth Volunteer Program?
A: This is an award program for those aged 12-15 who provided outstanding volunteer service to his or her community. The National award is a $5,000 Savings Bond and a trip to the National Convention to receive the award. Entry forms and rules are available on the Auxiliary website. www.ladiesauxvfw.org

The Ladies Auxiliary 2216 would like to thank the Department Officers, Kim DeShano, Hal Roesch, Roy Swanner, Rex, Faris, C. D. “Doc” Crouch, and Ray Wells for putting this information together. Thanks guys!