Community Service Programs

The Department of Maryland believes that The American Legion’s strength is through its involvement in the community. Toward that end, the Department of Maryland on a yearly basis is directly involved with a number of community service programs. During the 1999 – 2000 membership year, the Department of Maryland is directly involved in the community service programs listed in the following links:

Each American Legion post in The Department of Maryland is encouraged to support these and other community service programs at the local level and to provide a local committee for the various programs.

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION:

The Alzheimer’s Association, with more than 200 chapters throughout the United States, provides education and support for families and caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia (brain disorders involving intellectual functions such as memory, cognition, etc.) The Association is also dedicated to research in the causes, treatments, cures, and prevention of these diseases. The Association is the largest non-governmental provider of funding for research in this area of brain disorders.

IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND:

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia affect more than 80,000 people in Maryland. The Association has four chapters throughout the state; see below for locations and telephone numbers.

HOW LEGIONNAIRES CAN GET INVOLVED:

The Alzheimer’s Association welcomes you as a volunteer. Over 35,000 people across America assist us in carrying out our mission. You can perform many important functions. For example, you can assist at health fairs, work in our offices, staff the Help Line, or participate in MEMORY WALK, our largest fund-raising event of the year. Call your local chapter or branch office to speak with someone about getting involved.

AMERICAN LEGION CONTACTS:

This year, Ronald Holcombe of the American Legion is chairing a statewide committee to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. He has Legionnaires from all over Maryland on his committee. Please contact Mr. Holcombe or Tom Davis, Department Adjutant, for more information on how you can participate. Mr. Davis’ telephone number is (410) 752-3104.

MEMORY WALK:

MEMORY WALK takes place all over the United States. It brings together hundreds of thousands of people for fun, fresh air, exercise and to raise awareness and funds in support of Alzheimer’s Association programs and services. People with Alzheimer’s disease are honored at some Walks with the Memory Wall, where friends and family can write notes and hang photos or other mementos.

MEMORY WALK 1999 in Maryland will take place at locations throughout the state over several weekends in late summer and early fall. Call your local chapter or branch office for specific details.

Sunday, October 10	Washington County
Sunday, October 17	Washington, DC

We encourage you to participate in MEMORY WALK as an individual walker, or you may want to recruit a team of your family, friends, and co-workers. American Legion posts are welcome to put together teams, too. As an individual or team member, you will ask people to sponsor your walk by making monetary donations. Association staff will collect the funds on the day of each event.

You can also assist us by working at an event to help set up the Walk site, register walkers, clean up after the event, etc. In 1998, Post #22 in Towson was instrumental in organizing the MEMORY WALK for Baltimore County and also raised several thousand dollars in support of our mission.

ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION SERVICES IN MARYLAND:

Each Alzheimer’s Association chapter provides all or some of the following services. Call your local chapter or branch office for specific information.

Respite care for overburdened care givers so they can take personal time for themselves.

Support groups so family members can come together for mutual support and helpful ideas on how to cope with their relative’s illness.

Emergency grants to help families in crisis with the costs for care.

Safe Return, a program to return people to their homes if they should wander away and become lost. This services is often used by police in locating missing persons.

Professional in-service training for physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, and social workers on topics of specific interest to them. We also train police, fire, and emergency medical personnel in identifying and communicating with people who have dementia.

Education and training programs for community groups, families, and in-home health care workers to learn about the disease and acquire skills for caring for someone.

Help Line, where people can call for advice, assistance, or just someone to talk to. Help Line is manned by volunteers and Association staff.

Dementia conferences for health professionals. These professionals are, in turn, training thousands of other people.

Attendance at health fairs for United Way, businesses, government agencies, community and religious groups, and schools.

Public Policy activities to educate citizens of Maryland and our legislators about issues throughout the state that relate to Alzheimer’s disease. Call Donna DeLeno, Public Policy Director, at (410) 561-9099 for more information.

FOR INFORMATION ON SERVICES AND
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES, CALL:

Central Maryland Chapter, Timonium:	(410) 562-9099 or 1(800) 433-2273
Western Maryland Chapter, Frederick: Hagerstown branch office:	(301) 696-0315 (301) 797-4892
Eastern Shore Chapter, Salisbury:	(410) 543-1163
Greater Washington/Southern Maryland Chapter, Bethesda: Washington, DC branch office: La Plata branch office:	(301) 652-6446 (202) 483-4258 (301) 934-5856 or 1(800) 331-7299
National Office, Chicago:	1(800) 272-3900

You can also visit our national web site at http://www.alz.org and from there link to local chapter web sites.

EPILEPSY ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE

The Epilepsy Foundation of the Chesapeake Region

(formerly the Epilepsy Association of Maryland) is a private, non-profit organization that provides programs and services to people with epilepsy and other disorders. All of EFCR’s services are available at no cost and include the following:

Information and Referral
Access to Community Resources
Counseling
Community Living Assistance/Residential Support
Vocational Support
Family & Children’s Services:

In-home assistance
Parent-to-parent support
Advocacy in schools
Summer camp
Adaptive equipment and home modifications
On-site childcare support
Assessment and referral

Education services to employers, schools, public safety officers
Assistance with medical issues
Advocacy
Consultative Services

MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation of the Chesapeake Region is to assist people with epilepsy and other disorders in achieving their personal goals and in reaching their maximum potential. Services are tailored to support each person to live, work, socialize and to encourage the highest level of participation of each person in his/her community.

Additional information may be obtained by calling The Epilepsy Foundation of the Chesapeake Region at 1-800-492-2523 or The American Legion, Department of Maryland Headquarters at (410) 752-1405.

NATIONAL EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

PURPOSE

Since the early 1920's The American Legion has been actively involved in meeting the needs of both the community and individual Legion family members in the wake of disasters. The American Legion, in October 1989, re-established the National Emergency Fund to meet the most urgent needs of its members stricken by natural disaster.

The American Legion in the Department of Maryland strongly believes in the principals, aims, and goals of the National Emergency Relief Fund. In the fall of 1996 several communities in Maryland's western most county were devastated by floods. The National Emergency Relief Fund came to aid of many families of Legionnaires through the aid of direct grants.

ELIGIBILITY

The eligibility requirements are very simple. Any current year paid member of The American Legion, The American Legion Auxiliary or Sons of The American Legion is eligible. However, the member (applicant) must be a member in good standing with their post, unit, or squadron and must have been a member prior to the date of the disaster. Additionally, posts are eligible to receive grants from this fund, providing they meet the established criteria.

HOW TO APPLY

National Emergency Fund grant applications may be obtained by contacting your Department Headquarters at (410) 752-1405 or by calling The American Legion National Headquarters at (317) 630- 1328. Each application comes complete with easy to understand instructions explaining what information is required and where to send the application once completed. At a minimum, estimates of damage and photographs should be enclosed with each grant application. As a note, any supporting documentation and photographs provided in support of the application, cannot be returned to the member concerned.

THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY FUND AT WORK

Since October 1989, the National Emergency Fund has provided over $2,700,000 in direct financial assistance to Legion family members and posts. All contributions made to this fund are deposited in a special account and are used exclusively to meet our members’ most urgent needs. Not one single contribution dollar is used for fundraising, administrative costs or fulfillment.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Our Preamble to The American Legion Constitution says it best, "…devotion to mutual helpfulness." This phrase is more than just mere words on paper; it's our pledge of support to our distressed comrades. We have an obligation to assist those less fortunate members when the need arises, and we do through our donations to the National Emergency Fund. Listed below are some other ideas you may find helpful in your endeavor to ensure this fund remains financially capable of meeting our Legion family members' future disaster needs:

Encourage your post, unit, and squadron to make an annual contribution to the National Emergency Fund.

Challenge - your membership to make personal donations in support of the National Emergency Fund.

Advertise - Place National Emergency Fund information on your post bulletin board, in your post newsletter and in your department newspaper.

Educate - Present National Emergency Fund information at your monthly posts meeting. Use other opportunities to help educate our members about this fund

Encourage your elected leadership (post, district & department) to add this subject to their topics when they visit other posts.

Have your post, unit or squadron hold an annual fundraising event, with the proceeds being donated to the National Emergency Fund.

Departments or districts could hold a golf outing or other similar events in conjunction with their convention and donate the proceeds to the National Emergency Fund.

Departments could issue a written challenge to all their posts to make a donation in support of this fund. Encourage all posts to participate. The goal would be to a have a 100 percent participation from posts by a specified date.

For additional information please contact your American Legion National Headquarters, Attn: NEF, P.O. Box 6141, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206 or call (317) 630-1328.