JAY – The VFW Post 3335 Auxiliary is hoping to again raise money to help active-duty military personnel overseas and hospitalized veterans keep in touch with families and loved ones.

The auxiliary is sponsoring a Valentine’s dinner and dance from 6:30 p.m. to midnight Friday, Feb. 15, at Post 3335 at Jewell Street and Route 133. Tickets are by advance sale only and may be bought at the post. For more information phone the post at 897-5112. The $20 ticket price per person includes a prime rib dinner and dancing to the music of Alibi.

Profits will be sent to VFW Operation Uplink, which provides free phone cards to keep active military personnel, including those stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and hospitalized veterans connected to family and friends, said Lynn Dunton, an auxiliary representative.

“The last dance we had, we raised $1,200 to send to Operation Uplink,” Dunton said.

It’s the fourth year they’ve sponsored an event to benefit the program and each year, the profit sent to help people communicate is more than $1,000, Dunton said.

The response the auxiliary gets for this program is awesome, she said.

Dunton just returned from a conference in Kansas and learned about the hundreds of military service people and veterans being helped by the phone cards.

“The statistics are fantastic,” she said.

If someone is unable to attend but wants to contribute, a donation made out to VFW Post 3335 Ladies Auxiliary could be sent to VFW Post 3335 Auxiliary, 64 Jewel St., Jay, ME 04239, with a note that it is for Operation Uplink, Dunton said.

VFW Operation Uplink was launched in 1996 to help connect those who serve with those who care. The program uses contributions from supporters to buy phone time and put it in the hand of those who need it most, according to a Veterans of Foreign War Web site.