Norman American Legion Chapter looking to replicate successes of 2023 in the coming year

SUBMITTED

American Legion Post 88, Norman, OK had a very successful year and is on a positive path to replicate this same pattern in 2024.

Part of our mission in 2023 was to assist all veterans and their surviving spouses with the initiation of their individual claims and follow-up processing. During this same time, Post 88 received two grants that supported our community outreach program and helped us rehabilitate our vintage one-hundred year old building. Lastly, during this time we have established a strong online presence for our veteran community to find us on multiple social media platforms.

It is an honor to serve our veteran community with the strength of six Veteran Service Officers and two Post Service Officers (in training) who volunteer their time at our post have assisted over 600 veterans in getting their VA claim process started. Of those claims, we are very proud to report that 250 have been awarded a financial payment which generated $6,067,329 in 2023. This is an increase from 2022 when our VSOs reported $2,890,129 in awarded claims. Additionally, there have been 37 surviving spouses who have received appropriate counseling and benefits information from our post.

This number ($6,067,329) equates to an average of over $24,268 per person in claim money, per year. Not every claim is the same, but it is very important to identify the possibilities when speaking to a veteran who has had very little success with other veteran service officer locations.

We stand by the importance of identifying the successful results that can be achieved if given an opportunity to help serve each veteran in our community, surrounding area and abroad. We pride ourselves on our outstanding volunteer force of Veteran Service Officers who dedicate their service to Post 88.

These Veteran Service Officers are all volunteers and lead by VA-accredited Mr. Carl Ellison a resident of Purcell, OK who has been serving Post 88 for eight (8) years. Mr. Ellison’s responsibility is to ensure that all veterans and their family members receive appropriate representation with their VA benefit claim. Mr. Ellison has said, “There is never a fee to file a claim or help guide and consult in filing an initial application for VA benefits and if someone is charging you a fee — it’s illegal.”

In April 2023, Post 88 had the privilege to be selected as a recipient of the Oklahoma Electric Cooperative Foundation, INC Operation Round Up $3000 grant to assist in supporting our Easter program that benefits the community children to enhance their quality of life and economic well-being. This one time grant helped us provide over 60 underprivileged school aged children with a special Easter event — hosted at their school. We appreciate all of the volunteers that assisted with this grant and acknowledge OEC for helping us make a positive difference in the community we serve.

In November 2022, Post 88 was awarded $330,000 from the Covid 19 Relief grant program which facilitated our much needed Post 88 building repairs which began in. The inside of our facility received a much needed “facelift” to include a new generator, flooring, cubicle offices with computer monitors and security doors.

Our social media presence has increased largely due to members that have volunteered to help promote our Post 88 website, FaceBook and Google search pages. We are excited to welcome our Web Sergeant and Social Media Director, US Marine veteran, Mr. Sal Cenicacelaya to our post from New Jersey. He is responsible for building our webpage and updating our FaceBook posts with current information, topics of interest and photos of ongoing and upcoming events. In addition to our social media presence, we now have a QR code and PayPal capabilities that serve as a convenience to our members who wish to pay for their membership or raffle tickets. We appreciate all the help we can get as we bring our post into the 21st century.

Our Post Adjutant, US Army veteran, Mr. Eric Grubbs is responsible for ensuring all annual members pay their membership fee. The post currently has 328 members who are in good standing, 130 who still need to make their payment for the current year.

We consider ourselves fortunate and would like to offer our gratitude to the many volunteers who have helped make our Post so successful. If you or a friend would like to help us with our mission to support local Veterans, please reach out to us at (405) 366-7575.

Post 88 is open EVERY MONDAY from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. On the third Monday of the month, we are open for appointments only, please call Carl Ellison at (405) 8230910. If these hours do not fit your schedule, please call us at the number above to make other arrangements.

We hold our monthly membership meeting on the third Monday of each month and welcome all new members and guests. Our meetings begin at 7pm, but we encourage guests to arrive early to socialize and meet our Post Officers. We are an all volunteer force and excited to have the support of our local veterans.

From left ot right: VSO Jennifer Lester, VSO Cheryl Cooper, VSO Carl Ellison, Ernest Martin (Post Commander), Eric Grubbs (Adjutant), Harley McPeak (Historian), VSO Tammy Richard. Not pictured: VSO Charlie Neely, Sal Cenicacelaya (Web Sergeant, Post Sgt At Arms), Angela Maness (Grant Coordinator/Post Service Officer Assistant).

Photo Provided