The VMFP - Rotary - TSVVA - UAW Local 94 VC - DAV Connection

Veterans and Military Families for Progress (VMFP) member Tom Howe is also a member of the Rotary Club of Dubuque, Iowa, and of the Tri-State Vietnam Veterans Association (TSVVA). Howe furthermore admires the all-volunteer direct-service casework of the local Disabled American Veterans (DAV) chapter, especially its "Operation We Care" efforts founded 4 years ago by a local DAV Chapter Commander.

Operation We Care assists veterans and military families short on food or utility bill payments, including during long Iowa National Guard deployments. The Iowa 1/133 has the longest deployment of any National Guard unit of the current conflicts - 22 months. Operation We Care helps veterans who fall through the cracks in the VA support system in a variety of ways.

One local Iraq veteran in his late 20s is dying from ALS and has a 3-year-old son with incurable cancer. Because the veteran's ALS is not a service-related disability, there is no support for him from the VA. When the veteran recently told the DAV Operation We Care volunteers his legs did not work any longer, within hours they provided him the wheelchairs he would need.

Howe serves on the Rotary Club of Dubuque Fundraising Committee. Each year, the local Rotary Club tries to raise at least $100,000 to contribute to area 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. One of the fundraising events is Rock 'n Soul, a musical celebration held annually along the beautiful Mississippi River. The Rotary Fundraising Committee was looking for new potential recipients for its July 31, 2010 event. Howe recommended Operation We Care to be this year's recipient, and the committee adopted the DAV cause. Fellow VMFP member Ron Healey is the President of TSVVA, and Chairs the UAW Local 94 VC (Veterans Committee). The VMFP, Rotary, TSVVA, UAW Local 94 VC,and DAV volunteers, with the cooperation of good weather and the generosity of the people attending the free event ($5.00 donation recommended), hope to raise several thousand dollars to assist the Operation We Care beneficiaries.

Although VMFP is a 501(c)(4) which does not provide direct service like 501 c(3)s do, VMFP is an active connector of the dots. The VMFP mission involves teaching, leading, and connecting the needs of those serving, veterans, and military families with resources to care for those who serve us all. The VMFP - Rotary - TSVVA - UAW Local 94 VC - DAV Connection is a vivid example of the Rotary motto "Service Above Self". How fitting for 4 veteran and military family organizations' members, with personal histories of service to country above self, to combine with the Rotary volunteers and the Rotary motto in this year's Rock 'n Soul fundraiser. Clearly, when we work together in the service of others, when we get outside of ourselves, we get more good things done.

Tom Howe, President
Veterans and Military Families for Progress