I am so honored to be your President this year. This year I picked for my theme "Veterans and Our Communities." I believe that is the heart of our organization. I am ready to jump in and get started. This year I want to change some things, so get ready.

I want you to tell your community about your Auxiliary. Put articles in all of your local newspapers, including all the free ones. Tell everyone what you are doing. Brag about the education of patriotism to our children in the schools. Tell everyone about our scholarships for the middle schools, and high schools. Tell your neighbors about the things we do for our Veterans! Get your community involved with the collection of goodies to send to the troops. Most of all tell your community who is eligible to join the Auxiliary. If we explain what we are about and what we do I am sure membership will follow. This is a suggestion that I believe is worth a try.

We must get back to the basics of why we are here in the first place. It is because of our Veterans and the Grace of God we were allowed to become a part of this Great Organization to honor our Veterans. So let's tell our story with Pride and Love. By doing this, we will be "United by Love for our Veterans and Country."

Lynn Richards

Department of Texas LAVFW President