JAY — The Frank L Mitchell VFW Post 3335, in Jay, will hold Special Meeting on Saturday, 31 October at 1 p.m., for all its active members.
To be discussed will be the future direction and options for the Post. According to Post Commander Don Frechette, the Special Meeting “will be to discuss our opportunities and future course of direction. We will be voting on future direction and authorizations for our leaders, to determine our Post and Charter’s path forward”. This is primarily being driven by the impact of the COVID Pandemic that has temporarily forced the local post to be closed since March. “At our last Post meeting, it was voted and approved to hold a Special Meeting to discuss our Post future and options, and request donations from our members to keep our Post open”.
All members on the present role list, have been notified by mail and urged to attend the upcoming Special Meeting.
Post Quartermaster, Dave LaChapelle, puts it very simply: “Unfortunately, even while closed, we have fixed expenses we need to pay, regardless if we are open to our members and guests. With no regularly scheduled functions, dinners, and hall rentals, etc., our net income is essentially zero. This effectively means that our ability to raise any funding to meet our monthly expenses, through past methods, is now not possible. Even with available grants, we have basically exhausted our financial resources“.
This is a trend that is being experienced by many of the local Veterans organizations. With declining participation of an aging membership base to support its posts, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain operations. The methods to generate income to support the posts as they have over past generations are not sustainable. Post 3335 Judge Advocate, Jim Manter describes it as “there are only a dozen or so members who are active in meetings, community recognition events, Funeral details, and fund raising for the post. This model is not sustainable for such a small group of dedicated active members, auxiliary, and volunteers to meet the financial needs to maintain the large post.” He also adds that the declining economic situation in the local area does not help as well. “Our Post has such a rich history in the State and Local communities, it’s hard to fathom that our presence has diminished. Our plea is simple: Help us survive the Pandemic, so we can keep the traditions alive.”
At the moment, it is planned to have take out Dinners of soup and sandwiches on each Friday night in November. “Our dedicated group of members and volunteers will continue to do all we can to help weather the Pandemic. We urge the public to support our post any way they can”.
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