Veterans of Foreign Wars launches membership drive
Published 6:27 pm Monday, June 10, 2013
VFW Post 3016 James McCrue lays a wreath at the veteran’s monument in front of Memorial Stadium during the 2011 Veteran’s Day event. — file photo
By Sarah Mahan
The Selma Times-Journal
The month of June marks the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ national membership drive month, which means the local VFW Post 3016 is seeking to increase membership from their 285 existing members.
The VFW is a national organization that focuses on serving veterans, currently serving military, and their families and communities. After hosting Memorial Day services, the VFW made increasing membership their mission.
“It’s a good organization [to be a part of],” Rayburn Hill, commander of local VFW Post 3016, said. “We just feel like anybody who can should be a member. We pay tribute to the people who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may be free.”
Hill said the VFW follows their motto “honor the dead, while serving the living” to provide for the local community.
Each year the VFW holds a Memorial Day service at Memorial Stadium and organizes the Voice of Democracy Writing Contest, which is held at both the high school and college levels as a chance for local students to win scholarship money.
“All the money we make, including membership fees, goes into a relief fund for helping veterans who are not able to help themselves,” Hill said. “We encourage people to join. Numbers speak, so the more [members] we have the better.”
Those interested in becoming a member of the VFW must have served in an overseas combat zone. For information call 874-9277.
