I am very excited to begin my second term as President of the Auxiliary and looking forward to the 2024-2025 fiscal year. I hope everyone will join me in welcoming our three new Officers to the Auxiliary Board. We are lucky to have Stephanie Hubsch, as Treasurer, Anna Williams, as Secretary, and Arlene Vaillancourt, as Executive Committeewoman.

Again, I thank Nancy Niles for her service as treasurer the last few years and Joanna Curtis for her service as Executive Committeewoman. Both are cycling off our Board this year. Last year’s Secretary, Nekeshia Lester-Spinner has been elected Second Vice President for the next year. Deloris Artis will continue as First Vice President, and she is joined by Ruta Finestone, Sargent-At-Arms, Fran Aponte, Assistant Sargent-At-Arms, Daphne Gronich, Executive Committeewoman, and Bentleigh Borgeson, Chaplain. Of course, Gina Jakel once again is Junior Past President, as I have the privilege of continuing as the President.

In the last month, Auxiliary members had a chance to meet Medal of Honor Recipient Gary Littrell, to attend the Department of California (State) Auxiliary Convention in Visalia, to participate in the annual Palisades Will Rogers 5K Run/Walk, to join in the parade, and to meet Steve Guttenberg, Palisades Fourth of July Parade Grand Marshal. I had the honor of riding in the parade a President of the Auxiliary in a classic 1960 Austin-Healy Sprite!

The Auxiliary is off to a great start! Our first program will provide school supplies to children in need this back-to-school season and we are seeking donations, to be supplemented by the Auxiliary. We are looking for donations in increments of 10 as part of our Give 10 to Education Program. This means you can donate 10 pencils, 10 notebooks, 10 glue sticks, and so on. There is a donation box at Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post 283. We are also seeking gift cards to Amazon, Walmart, and Target in increments of $10.

The Auxiliary continues to host breakfast on the first Wednesday of the month and exercise class every Tuesday at Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post 283 (except not August 20 or 28 when the Post is closed), and BINGO once a month at the CalVet Home. We look forward to supporting the upcoming Spirit Hike to bring veterans and the community together. On November 12, once again we will sponsor an In-N-Out Truck on the West Los Angeles VA Campus. On December 9, we will host Veterans from various residential facilities at the Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post.

We will continue to meet over the summer to plan upcoming activities. Our next two general membership meetings are on July 24 and August 14. We also look forward to the District 24 Auxiliary meeting on August 3 at 10:00 in Culver City, where State and National Awards will be distributed for the last four years. All members are invited to attend the District Meetings.

Please contact me if you would like more information. I hope to see you at one of our activities soon.

Auxiliary Report Update

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