Region 9 REPORT:

Accomplishments and Events

BY DICK SOUTHERN, DIRECTOR

Let me be among the first to wish you all a happy holiday season. This is the time of year when we reflect on what we have accomplished over the last year and set goals for the new year. We have increased our membership and added new chapters, but we have many prospects out there to contact as our generation heads into the golden years of retirement.

Veterans health care remains a big issue. Because most Vietnam veterans do not use the VA health care system, we need to educate them about presumptive service-connected diseases and afflictions. We need to encourage them to visit VVA Service officers to file claims with the VA and get into the health care system. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with VVA’s Veterans Health Council, go to www.veteranshealth.org

I continue to visit State Councils in my Region and have recently visited Chapter 858 in Hawaii and Chapter 887 in the Philippines. New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and California have all centralized their State Council meetings to make it easier for their chapters to attend these quarterly meetings. Attendance is up. Colorado and Utah will be given more attention by this director in the coming year to increase their membership and bring their State Councils into a more-active status. Guam is scheduled for a visit in the coming year if my budget allows it.

I am planning a Region 9 meeting in the Las Vegas area in March 2010 and will update the Region as the plans are finalized. This meeting is in the planning stages, and I welcome suggestions to make it interesting and educational.

I urge all State Councils and chapters to encourage their leadership to make plans to attend the VVA National Leadership Conference, which will be held in Orlando in August. It is time to plan fundraising events in the new year to increase the travel budgets of those who need to attend this important learning experience.

Let’s continue to recruit and retain members and to help veterans and their families. See you at a meeting.