Martine Arndt
2016-2017 National Youth Activities Ambassador
Plans for Winter Break
“Hang up the holly, put up the tree…”
The holiday season is in full swing and Christmas is less than a week away! I hope many of you and your Auxiliaries celebrated the season with events for youth in your community and included Santa, gifts and goodies. Also, I hope you have thought about youth and families in your community that may need assistance during the holiday season; it’s not too late to do something for others this year!
- Assemble and deliver holiday food and gifts to those in need. Spend some time with these families to see if there are other needs your Auxiliary can help with.
- Mail cards to families at the National Home, patients of the VA Hospitals, residents of VA and local medical and extended care facilities. Many of these people have no family and your card may be a highlight of their season.
- Prepare a meal at your Post home. Invite lonely and homeless veterans and families to join you.
During winter break, get youth involved in activities such as:
- Shoveling snow for elderly neighbors, veterans and friends.
- Collecting Christmas trees to take to drop off locations in your area.
- Taking down holiday decorations for those in the community.
Winter break is a great time to sit down with your youth groups to see what projects and plans they would like to arrange for the coming months. Check out Pinterest for thousands (literally, thousands) of ideas for craft projects and ways to help your community.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I look forward to continuing to work together for the youth of America in 2017.
