Disabled American Veterans, Department of Minnesota

“ FULFI LL ING O UR PRO M I SES TO THE MEN AND W OMEN W HO SERVED”

Seasons greetings ! The holidays are my favorite time of year. My family dinners at Thanksgiv-ing and Christmas are what I look for-ward to all year. This time of year is all about sharing with family. Decorating the house and tree, going on shopping trips, and baking for the many get to-gethers with family and friends, all in-crease the joy of the season. The last couple of months have been very exciting and rewarding, trav-

eling around the state to visit at Veteran Homes and participating in programs honoring our Veter-ans. Everywhere I go, the goal of all present is to work for the betterment of the Veterans. I have had the pleasure of hear-ing stories about how our Vet-erans have serviced our coun-try. I only hope we can give back even a fraction of what has been given to us. On a lighter note I received an early

Christmas present in the form of a great-granddaughter on November 25th. That makes a running total of 33 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. I can only imag-ine what Christmas would be if they all were in Minnesota. My husband Mel and I wish eve-ryone a Merry Christmas.

Karen Siltanen, Department of MN DAVA Commander

December 2012

First, I would like to extend Holiday Greetings to each and every one of you. At the same time I want to remind you that there are disabled veterans and / or their families who may not be as fortunate as we, in your community, in the VAMCs, the Veterans Homes, or area nursing homes , and I ask that you take the time to reach out to these folks… do something special,

keeping in mind our purpose, fulfilling our promises to the men and women who have served. We are just beyond the halfway point in my year as your Commander and I must say I am so very proud of the MN DAV organizations impact on the lives of those we serve. I have seen firsthand DAV and DAVA members, Chapters, lead-ers, and volunteers clearly performing our mission with pas-sion and commitment. I sincerely thank you for that and challenge you to extend that commitment into our new year. You are truly building better lives, fulfilling our organizations promises and bringing a better quality of life to those we serve. … in a very big way . Serving as your Commander gives me a very special opportunity to see the big picture of just what MN DAV is all about… and the results of your/our efforts. Some examples: I have seen 100’s of disabled veterans participating in very unique and safe hunting and fishing opportunities that

the DAV sponsored. The smiles and the excitement I wit-nessed at these events are etched in my memory. I sincerely thank the donors and volunteers who play a very key role in the success of these events. I have had the opportunity to be at the VAMCs as the DAV and County vans pull up to the entrance of the VAMC and bring these men and women to their medical care. Some of these vans and volunteer drivers are on the road long be-fore the sun rises and long after it sets. I have come to appre-ciate even more, the impact this DAV transportation pro-gram plays in bringing a better quality of life to our veter-ans…. ie: last year here in MN; 26,000 veterans transported 85,000 hours contributed by volunteer drivers 1.7 million miles driven to get these veterans to their medical appointment. I have seen dedicated members actively recruiting new members…ensuring that our organization grows and is posi-tioned for the future to carry on our efforts to address the promises we have made. We have been one of the fastest growing Departments in the USA for over 8 years running. I ask that you keep focused on this very important effort. I have visited Chapters and witnessed their veteran com-munity involvement, their programs, and their success. In these travels, I have come to realize the importance of

(Continued on page 3)

Happy Holidays from DAVA Commander Siltanen

Seasons Greetings from Commander Erickson

2

As we enter the Holiday season I wish you all HAP-PY HOLIDAYS! As the Commander stated, this is clearly a time for friends and fami-lies to share time,

love and gifts as well as wishes for the new year, but lets make a special effort to include fellow veterans in sharing of time, appreciation and wishes this sea-son.

Since coming onboard as your State Adjutant and Foundation Executive Di-rector in July, my life has taken on new meaning and purpose. I have come to greatly admire the Disabled American Veteran organization and the members who make the organization what it is.

Your passion to serve veterans through volunteerism, donations, as well as

commitment to organizations growth and strength truly inspires me. There is no doubt in my mind, even though my tenure with DAV is short, that I am committed to serve you, and the organization over the long term and assist you in making the DAV of MN the very best it can be and focused on our purpose of FULFILLING THE PROMISES WE MADE TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED.

As we end calendar year 2012, I must say that our organization is strong, it is growing with new membership, its fundraising enterprises (both at Dept. and Chapter) are thriving and mem-bers , leaders, volunteers are moving our organization in a direction where it is clear we are putting our resources and efforts where they need to be.

We have DAV programs serving our veterans where the impact of our ef-forts are profound:

The DAV Donor Connection program connecting donors with handicapped equipment to disabled veterans who enjoy a better quality of life as a re-sult of the donor generosity.... to a tune of approximately $400,000 in value a year.

Our National Service Officers at Fort Snelling are aggressively and effectively championing your claims for benefits and services.

Our DAV / VA Transportation Net-work at the Mpls and St. Cloud VAMCs are the best in the nation

Our hunting and fishing programs for disabled veterans are providing a very unique opportunity for veterans to hunt and fish in a very safe and accommodating environment.

Our new young staff in MN DAV HQ (DSO Carson and Operations Director Vrtacnik), along with Gina are excit-

(Continued on page 7)

From the Adjutant/Executive Director’s Desk

I hope that everyone had a really great Thanksgiving Day! We all have so much to be thankful for. We live in a great place and have so many privileges that many others do not have. We need to protect those rights. It is our right and civic duty to do so. Please write or call your Senators and make it known to them that we oppose the TRICARE Med-ication Co-Payment Increases. Tell them to change the language on S.3254 that would restrict DOD’s authority to in-crease TRICARE pharmacy copayments. Christmas is right around the corner and as members of the Disabled Ameri-can Veterans Auxiliary we need to think about ways to help our veterans and their families this season. Check with your County Veterans Service Office to see if they need assistance or financial help for the Christmas season. Talk to your local nursing homes and find out if there they need volunteers or if there are any veterans you can visit. The reward is great and the need to help is al-ways there.

Each unit has received their yearend reports and application for the Kathe-rine Pearson DAV Auxiliary member of the year award. If you have missed placed either of these, please contact me immediately and will send you another copy. Yearend reports are vital to this organization as it tells us what each of you are doing and also gives other units ideas as to what they can be doing. If you are have trouble with the reports you can all me at 320-275-3453. Have all the units filed your 990N E-Post card? If not please do so immediately! Failure to do so can result in your unit losing your tax exempt status and it is very costly to get that reinstated. Here are a couple of tips: 1. You may need to add 01 to the end of your EIN number. 2. Make sure that you are using your Auxiliary EIN number and not the Chap-

ters. Call National if you are not sure what your number is. PLEASE call me at 320-275-3453 if you need help. February 24 –27, 2013 we will be going to Washington, DC for the Na-tional Mid-Winter Conference. This

is our opportunity to talk to our congress-men and let them how we want them to vote on Veterans Issues. Our DAV Na-tional Commander, Larry Polzin, will be addressing the Joint Veterans Affairs Committee on Tues-day February 26, 2013. Here in Minnesota, we have a very knowledgeable slate of Department of-ficers in the Auxiliary. Please feel free to contact them if you have questions or need help. We would be very happy to attend any of your meetings and give guidance or advice. WE are all here to serve you the members of the Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary. I sent each unit a list of all the officers and commit-tees chairmen. If you need another one, please contact me to obtain another copy. LeeAnn Karg DAVA Dept. of MN Adjutant

Greetings from the Auxiliary Adjutant

3

As of October 15th, Minnesota has a new Department Ser-vice Officer, John Carson. He is already deep into his train-ing in his new job. John is still actively involved with the Minnesota Army National Guard with which he joined in 1998 and has deployed overseas with the MN National Guard twice. In 2010 John started working full time with the MN Nation-al guard and Martin County Beyond the Yellow Ribbon helping Veterans and Military families around southern MN. John is highly motivated and enjoys helping veterans at every turn. John will be located at the Department HQ & Report to the Adjutant. He will be very involved with out-reach & statewide chapters. John can be contacted at john@davmn.org or call 651-291-1212.

In November of 2012 a fellow veteran Phillip Potter gener-ously donated a 2003 Oldsmo-bile Bravada to the DAV De-partment of Minnesota to be used as a new service vehicle to help service officers get out on the roads and help vet-erans.

Phillip has had a long military career spanning over 34 years and filled with great accomplishments. His generos-ity will enable service officers to get out more frequently and assist veterans who were previously restricted due to immobility. The bravado is a beautiful vehicle that is black in color and will show off the DAV’s new logo per-fectly for all to see.

Now that we have this new service vehicle we will no longer be restricted to the Mobile Service Office which can be difficult to get around in during the winter and is not as fuel efficient as our new service Bravada. The new service vehicle is set up and ready and will be out on the road in no time heading out to locations all over the state.

strong leadership at the chapter level. I have also seen chapters struggling to make a difference and an impact in their communities. I will continue to ensure my officers and I are focused on these chapters. I have seen firsthand the success and impact of our DAV of MN Foundation. I sincerely appreciate your gener-osity in providing donations to it. Our Foundation is the “giving arm” of MN DAV and provides support for Chapter, unit, and partner organization projects throughout the State of MN. I thank the Board of Directors for their ef-forts, their focus on strategy, vision and purpose. I have seen many great DAV and DAVA volunteers generously giving their time, their talents and making a difference at our VAMC s, the Veterans Homes, at the Transportation offices, at our hunts and fishing events and many other places around our State. THANK YOU!! I am so very grateful for our success in sourcing, hir-ing, and building a young and energetic executive team in our Department HQ. I thank Dean Ascheman, Bob Connor and our Executive Committee and Foundation Board of Directors for their efforts in this accomplishment. I am very confident we will be well served by these young men for years to come.

I could go on for quite some time providing you a glimpse of what I see on a day to day basis with MN DAV but I will end it by simply saying “ KEEP IT UP… CONTINUE DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING… BLOW YOUR HORN…. CELE-BRATE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS… AND LAST, BE PROUD … I CERTAINLY AM!” HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON…MAKE IT SPECIAL FOR DISABLED VETS IN YOUR COMMUNITY!! And be proud to be a DAV’er. It is not the price we pay to be a member, it is the price we paid to be eligible. Serving you and MN DAV; Bob Erickson, State Commander

(Continued from page 1) Commander Erickson’s Greetings

Sign up for our E-News!! Visit our

website davmn.org to subscribe

It has been a great year for DAV MN’s en-terprise operations. Our thrift and vehicle donation programs are continuing to thrive. Historically, the quantity of dona-tions that we receive drops off signifi-cantly around October/November, but as of December 1st we are still going strong.

A special thanks to all of the Chapters that are partici-pating in the thrift program. Your continued efforts are enabling the DAV MN to increase its visibility and public awareness, and the increased revenue in the Chapter treasuries will enable us to enhance the quality and fre-quency of DAV events for all of our local Veterans. Kudos to everyone involved, and keep up the great work. To those Chapters not yet involved in the program, feel free to contact me anytime if you have questions or want to participate (josh@davmn.org or call 651-291-1212). I wish you all, and your families, the very best this holiday season. Joshua Vrtacnik, Director of Operations

DAVMN Enterprises has New Leadership

Welcome to the New Department Service Officer

DAV Hits the Road with New Service Vehicle

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New law extends VA loan eligibility to more surviving spouses. Now a Veteran’s death

does not have to be duty-related for the widow to become eligible for VA home loan bene-

fits.

An addition to the VA eligibility guidelines is good news for surviving military spouses. A new law, known as The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Fami-lies Act (H.R. 1627), makes VA loans available to additional surviving spouses. Military widows can now be eligible if the Veteran was rated totally disabled and eligible for com-pensation prior to death by any cause. The law designates that the Veteran must have been eligible for compensation at the time of passing and be rated one of the following:

1. Continuously totally disabled for at least 10 years immediately prior to death 2. Continuously totally disabled for at least 5 years from the date of discharge 3. Continuously totally disabled for at least 1 year prior to death of a POW who died after Sept. 30, 1999.

The change is significant because prior to the signing of the Act on August 6, 2012, only those whose spouses died of military-related causes were considered for home loan bene-fits. Generally, VA home loan eligibility for surviving military spouses has been updated to include widows who have not remarried and:

Survived a spouse who died in service or from a service-related disability Survived a spouse who was missing in action (MIA) or a prisoner of war (POW) for at least 90 days (limited to one-time use of benefit) Survived a spouse who was rated continuously totally disabled for the specified period of time, and was eligible for disability compensation at the time of death by any cause Valery Behr, Military Community Liaison for iFreedom Direct® says, “The improvements to VA loans as a result of this Camp Lejeune law are a great start to what’s needed to take better care of our vets.” Even if you may not have been eligible in the past, you may quali-fy now based on recent improvements to veterans’ benefits eligibility requirements. Check with your VA specialty lender to see if you qualify. www.directvaloans.com/.

VA Loan Eligibility Expands for Surviving Spouses

LVAP/VAVS Reporting

DAV Day with the Minnesota Twins!

Mark your calendar for this

year’s DAV outing to Target Field

to watch the Minnesota Twins

take on the Kansas

City Royals on

Sunday June 30,

2013, time TBD.

Tickets this year

will be $35 each

(Each ticket will receive a $10

Concession Voucher!).

Put the date on your calendar so

that you can make plans to watch

the State Commander attempt to

throw out the first pitch!

More info will be posted on our

website when finalized.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has updated the list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships that operated in Vietnam, adding more vessels and expanding infor-mation for others. There are now 244 ships on the list. The list can help Vietnam-era Vet-erans find out if they qualify for presumption of Agent Orange exposure when seeking VA disability compensation for related diseases.

Visit www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures to learn about military exposures and VA bene-fits.

More Ships Added to VA’s Vietnam Ship List

The Veterans Affairs pension program provides monthly benefit payments to cer-tain wartime Veterans with financial need, and their survivors. As Veterans and survivors consider applying for these benefits, VA would like to share important information about the pension program and organizations offering assistance with pension Department of Veterans Affairs Pension Benefits Information applications. The Pension, Fiduciary and Survivors (PFS) Service has developed a fact sheet for VA’s Pension program that can be found at www.vba.va.gov/VBA/docs/PensionProgramInfo_final.pdf.

Department of Veterans Affairs Pension Benefits Information

Chapter & Unit Leaders! Make sure you are reporting LVAP (Local Volunteer Assistance Pro-gram) hours monthly! Whether its helping your chapter at a local fair, visiting a local nursing home, color guard, it can all be counted towards LVAP! Questions on getting started or how to report please contact: Ken Kelley State LVAP Chair Phone: 320-252-1670 Ext. 6676 Fax: 320-202-2326 Email: ken.kelley@va.gov

Benefit Information provided by Department Service Officer, John Carson. John can be reached by calling 651-291-1212 or email John@davmn.org

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DAV Transportation Network for the Twin Cities Metro Area The DAV Transportation Network pro-vides free transportation for veterans requiring medical care to and from VA Hospitals. The DAV Hospital Service Coordinators (HSC’s) administer the DAV Transportation Network (TN) through the DAV State HQ . The program is a partnership between the VA and the DAV organization. The DAV donates vans as well as assists in the funding of the vans serving the Statewide Counties and oversees the volunteer drivers, who log over mil-lions of miles each year. The Mpls/St. Paul Metro area TN leads the country in the hours the volunteers contribute, the miles driven and most importantly the number of veterans served. Veterans are brought in to the Minne-apolis VAMC from many counties all over Minnesota and quite a few coun-ties in western Wisconsin. The volun-teers and the county drivers that dedi-cate their time to veterans are our un-sung heroes. They drive in all kinds of weather, to include blizzards and down pours, often having to leave extremely early in the morning to get veterans in on time for their appointments. “It’s a way to give back to the VA and a way to help brother veterans.“ Says Buzz, one of the drivers for the metro area. “We

have met people and served vet-erans that have participated in significant events of history. They have interesting stories to tell”, added another driver. Some of our passengers are just nice people that have a need for help. Giving back is a fulfilling and enjoyable thing. And that is why our drivers drive, and drive they do. Last week alone, in the Twin City area the local drivers provided transportation to over fifty veterans. From January through November 2012 the “Metro “drivers provided transportation to 2,600 veterans driving vehicles that were donated by the DAV to the hospi-tal. Altogether, including Minnesota county drivers and Western Wisconsin county drivers there were over 20,000 veter-ans that were brought in to the Minne-apolis VAMC. There was over 1,320,000 miles driven. That is a lot of veterans served and a lot of miles covered. It is a culmination of efforts from many sources, the DAV, the counties and Vol-unteer Services at the hospital, to name a few. It is something that we can all be proud

of certainly, however there are still more opportunities. There are more geographical gaps where there are vet-erans that do not have transportation available to medical care that they are entitled to at the VAMC. That is one of our objectives of the DAV, to continue identify these gaps and to try to close them and to continue to provide trans-portation to our veterans who have served us. If anyone in the Mpls/St. Paul metro area would like to volunteer to be a volunteer driver (typically volunteers drive one day/week), please call Babet-te Blumenauer at 612-487-2768. Also, if any members are at the Mpls VAMC and would like to know more about the program, stop in to say hi to Babette. The office is next to the cashiers office on 1st floor 1-S.

Commander Erickson Presents Mpls. VAMC with a new Van!

Minnesota Twins & DAV of Minnesota teamed up again for the Winter Warm-Up Coat Drive which took place During the month of November at Twins Pro Shop locations and the Twins Majestic Clubhouse Store. The coat drive provid-ed an opportunity for fans to join the holiday giving efforts of the Minnesota Twins by donating new or gently used coats for local disa-bled veterans and their families in need as well as for home-less veterans. The MAC-V organiza-tion will accept the clothes from the DAV

in early December and distribute them through their MAC-V locations in Mpls/St. Paul, Mankato and Duluth. They will also distribute through the CVSOs where need exists. Fans who donated received 20 percent off eligible purchases at the Twins Pro

Shops in the Metro area. Coats were also dropped off at the DAV Donation Center in Maplewood located at 1285 Cope Ave (Hwy 36 & English) Maplewood. On the morning of No-vember 20, at the Brook-lyn Park Armory, coats were collected and MN

Twins 1st Baseman Justin Morneau was on hand to sign autographs! Eager fans were assembled in a LONG line waiting to greet their TWINS hero Justin and donate to the DAV. This is the 2nd annual TWINS / DAV coat drive and we sincerely thank Justin Morneau for leading the effort for the TWINS this year. We also thank the par-ticipating Metro Area TWINS pro shops. As the drive wrapped up, Director of Operations Vrtacnik stated that the drive was even more successful than in 2011 and that many veterans and their families in need of coats, as will be ready for the winter with a nice warm coat thanks to the generosity of the many donors who participated in the drive.

State Commander Erickson looks on as MN Twin Justin Morneau thanks donors

2nd Annual MN Twins/DAVMN Winter Warm Up Coat Drive

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martFIVE, LLC Makes Major Donation of Hurrycanes to MN DAV

martFIVE, LLC a Minneap-olis based retail company, is a company that offers

internet marketing of proprietary products, including canes and children toys. Two products many of your most likely are aware of are the HurryCane and Stuffies products. Recently they approached the DAV of MN Foundation with an interest in making a donation of the HurryCane prod-ucts. Many of our members who were at the DAV of MN Fall Con-ference seen the product and many of you have no doubt seen martFIVES frequent TV ads about the HurryCane. (see at https://thehurrycane.com) Rather than further explain the donation, let us share the thank you letter from State Commander Erickson to mart-FIVE. On behalf of the Disabled American Veterans organization of MN and our 18,000 members I want to sincerely thank martFIVE for their generosity and two donations of 1000 Hurrycanes each over the last two months. We further are excited about your interest in donating Hurrycanes on a reg-ular basis. We have had several membership gatherings where we have made the Hurrycanes available to those in need and I must say we have clearly improved the quality of life for many disabled and aged veterans who have picked up these canes. We have also reached out to the residents in our five MN Veterans Homes spread throughout the State as

well as our County Veteran Service Officers in the 80+ Coun-ties, and they too are so very grateful for what they have been able to do to serve disabled and aged veterans as a re-sult of your generosity. Today, I assisted in the pickup of your second donation of 1000 Hurrycanes and we have reached out to the DAV or-ganization in South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, and over the holidays will be delivering a large share of to-days donation to them. Again, a sincere THANKS to martFIVE.... you are playing a HUGE role in assisting us in performing our purpose of "fulfilling our prom-ises to the men and women who have served". We look forward to the future donations and your efforts to serve disa-bled veter-ans as a partner of the DAV.

(L-R)MN DAV Director of Operation Josh Vrtacnik, DAV enterprise employee Roosevelt Sanders, martFIVE warehouse

employee Aaron, and Commander Bob Erickson.

Over two sunny and beautiful Saturdays in October The DAV of MN Foundation once again partnered with the Midwest Out-doors unlimited organization to host two European style pheasant hunts at Sand Pines Pheasant Preserve in the St. Jo-seph area. These hunts have become very popular with disabled veterans as the European style hunt is very accommodating to the handicapped / disabled veterans.

Over forty hunters enjoyed the hunts and close to 350 pheasants were taken. These pheasants were processed, frozen and presented to the hunters to take home (about 8 per hunter). The DAV and Midwest Outdoors Unlimited sincerely thank the chapters and individ-uals who assisted in the funding of these events. We also thank the volunteers who brought their dogs used to retrieve pheasants for the hunters. DAV Foundation Executive Director Stephen Whitehead and MOU Executive Direc-tor Ron Welle commented after the hunts that they are committed to continue these hunts in 2013 and actively recruit new disabled veteran hunters for these events. We also thank the Chapter Commanders and Statewide CVSOs for ensuring statewide veterans were aware of the event and opportunity to hunt.

DAV MN Partners with Midwest Outdoors Unlimited to Host Two October Pheasant Hunts

7

Membership Update!

ed and committed to serve MN DAV for years to come and continue our outstanding progress.

Recently I, along with Dept. Service Officer (DSO) Carson and Mpls VAMC transportation coordinator Babette Blu-menauer attended a one week intensive service officer training seminar put on by the National Assn. of County Veterans Service Officers so that we can participate active-ly in needed outreach efforts of the DAV as we serve veter-ans who have questions and concerns about VA benefits and claims.

Our Chapters and Units throughout MN have great and effective programs serving our veteran. We have new leadership emerging , which is great as we take our organ-ization forward serving ALL of our veterans of ALL eras.

As I end 2012, I look forward to an exciting and challeng-ing year, but as I do I am convinced we have the staff, the management and the talents / skills to take us to new lev-els of service and success. That, along with our Chapters, Units and each and everyone of our DAV’ers commitment to continue doing what we have been doing we WILL be the best we can be.

We have achieved MUCH this past year, and we have MUCH to be proud of. I THANK YOU and I thank you for giving me this opportunity to serve my fellow disabled veterans.

Once again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Stephen Whitehead, Adjutant & Executive Director

(Continued from page 2) Adjutant/Executive Director

The Department of Minnesota started the membership year with two goals, (1) meet the 100% membership goal; and (2) Earn the National Judge Marx Award for the high-est percent of membership above goal. In early November we met our first goal of 100%. At the Fall Conference we set a new standard in Minnesota mem-bership by issuing a flash-drive with over 20,000 eligible member names stored on Excel spread sheets. We also approved a $100 Department level subsidy for any new member signed up until Dec 31, 2012. As of this writing 7 of our 31 Chapters remain under their goals and we are confident that they will attain their goals very soon. Minnesota remains neck-and-neck with our rival to the west--South Dakota who is the only other state in the Na-tion to attain 100%. We have to recruit 4 new members to their 1. Commander Erickson deserves every ounce of your effort to push for every possible new member to our great organization. Thank you all for your hard work-keep it up! “Remember, A New Member Today is a Member for Life!” Greg Peterson, Dept. Sr. Vice & Membership Chairman

The DAV Mid-Winter Conference will be held February 24th-27th in Arlington, VA. A variety of informative workshops covering Dept. & Chapter duties, Communications, I.G., Legislative, Membership, and Voluntary Services will be presented. Top VA officials will speak on VA Claims & Health Care Bene-fits. On Tuesday, Feb 26th National Com-mander Larry Polzin will address the House & Senate Vet-erans’ Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday (27th) Our Department will host a break-fast from 8-10 a.m. for our 10 legislators and their staff to discuss the DAV’s top legislative priorities. We have a spe-cial reservation to hold this breakfast at the Library of Congress. Travelers should plan on departing MN on Sat-urday and return flights should be no earlier than 2 pm on the 27th. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Crys-tal Gateway Marriott for $198 per night. Call 703-920-3230 to make your room reservation. All Minnesota mem-bers who are planning to attend are requested to contact Dept Adjutant Whitehead no later than Feb 8th.

Greg Peterson, Dept Sr. Vice & Legislative Chairman

DAV Mid-Winter Conference

The Minnesota Commanders’ Task Force (CTF) has set March 13, 2013 as Minnesota Veterans Day on the Hill. The CTF was created in 1988 and is comprised of elected commanders and appointed adjutants of nine congres-sionally-chartered Veterans service organizations in Min-nesota. The CTF will present their 2013 Legislative Agen-da during a Rotunda ceremony and all able Veterans are encouraged to attend. The House & Senate sessions begin at noon on January 8th. Many of the new legislators have not served in the Armed Forces nor have any of their relatives or acquaint-ances. We will have to “educate” them about the sacrifices that Minnesota’s Veterans and their families endured and that we will accept nothing less than their full support for MN Veterans Programs

On the 4th Sunday of every month at 1PM (and 9AM on this Christmas Day) a small group of dedicated members/volunteers meet at the Mpls VAMC atrium to gather and then break up and go room to room visiting veteran pa-tients throughout the hospital. Those that they visit are also given a small "giveaway" which is always appreciated. We would like to expand this group to include more mem-bers/volunteers. If you are interested, please contact State Commander Bob Erickson through State HQ. (651-291-1212)

Vets Day on the Hill

Attention Metro Area Members Volunteers Needed

8

WAYS TO CONNECT

TO THE MN DAV

UPCOMING DAV EVENTS

DAV Mid-Winter Conference February 24-27, 2013 Crystal Gateway Marriott $198 per night single/double Ph: 504-561-0500 www.dav.org/events MN Vets Day on the Hill: March 13, 2013 State Commander Testimonial April 6, 2013 Fort Snelling Officers Club

DAV State Convention May 2-4, 2013 Holiday Inn, Duluth $89 per night Ph: 218-727-7492 www.hiduluth.com DAV Foundation Golf Tourney May 22, 2013 The Wilds, Shakopee Old Glory Run TBD www.theoldgloryrun.com DAV National Convention August 10-13, 2013 Hilton Orlando $124 Per Night Ph: 407-313-4300 DAV State Fall Conference October 4-5, 2013 Holiday Inn, Owatonna $87 per night Ph: 507-446-8900 www.hiowatonna.com

National Commander Larry Polzin has made the following appointments:

National Chief of Staff: Sheldon Sandmann & Babette Blumenauer, both of Saint Paul Chapter 2. Aide to the National Commander: Bob Bowen, Saint Paul Chapter 2 & Richard Weiss, Crow Wing County Chapter 22 Congratulations to all the appointees! The MN DAV is Proud to have such strong leaders! Look us up on

Twitter! @DAVofMN

We can be found un-der Minnesota Disa-bled Veterans, Stop by and “like” us!

We still have our spot on the web also, stop by and visit www.davmn.org

MN DAV Members Receive National Appointments

Our Comrades in the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Department of Minnesota, have asked us to inform anyone eligible for membership to contact their Depart-ment Service Officer, Mark Browne @ 612-467-3247 or e-mail: blackhorse1951@msn.com .

They are offering a free lifetime membership in the Minnesota Department of MOPH to anyone who is eligible.

Purple Heart Membership

In 2011, the MN DAV Transportation Network transported 26,558 veterans over 1,700,000 miles which contributed to over 80,000 hours of volunteer time!

DAV representation before the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs resulted in over $60 Mil-lion in benefits to MN veterans. This achievement has a significant impact on the vet-eran and the state of MN economy.

Over 1,800 MN Vets received new benefits. Over 3,600 veterans had their claims maintained ($37 Million) and/or increased through our MN DAV Service Officers representation ($14 Million).

MN DAV continued to provide the funds to replace TVs across the Minnesota Veter-ans homes. These original TVs were provided also by the Foundation twice in past. Total cost was over $400,000

We have established a fund to assist MN Counties in the purchase of vans used to transport veterans to the St. Cloud, Minneapolis and Fargo VAMCs.

DAV provided over $60,000 assisting in the funding of statewide DAV chapter pro-grams serving disabled veterans and their families.

The DAV of MN provided donated medical equipment (wheelchairs, scooters, walk-ers, electric beds, etc) to disabled veterans and/or families with total value of over $400,000 this past year.

The DAV of MN Foundation granted monies to Annual DAV Pheasant Hunt for disa-bled veterans in last 3 years. This hunt is held in St. Joseph MN area and two more are planned for coming years. We also are major funders for the Trolling for Troops Fishing and deer and turkey hunts at Camp Ripley.

The DAV of MN Foundation has two additional fundraising programs to assist us in our DAV Transportation Network. Our Annual DAV Golf Tournament and the Old Glory Run has been instrumental in positioning the MN DAV in the purchase of a new vans for in-creasing needs for veteran transporta-tion.

We have worked the Hurrycane Company to obtain a donation of over 2,000 canes for disabled veterans in MN.

Snapshot of Our Service to MN Veterans 2011-2012

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"Planned Giving " is a catch-all term de-scribing a variety of vehicles that enable you to contribute to charity throughout your life and even after your death. It is usually done in conjunction with estate planning and includes things like dona-tions of stocks and bonds and setting up annuities or trust funds. From a donor's perspective, and de-pending how planned giving is struc-tured , the advantage is the donor can receive an income stream from his or her assets while also receiving a higher yield or tax-advantages treatment of investment income, which eventually benefits your charity. Planned giving can be complicated and should be done with the aid of a professional invest-ment/tax counselor or attorney. Whatever method you choose, be sure you understand the legal requirement and tax consequences of any invest-ments. A good online place to begin your investigation is the Minnesota Council on Foundations "Toolkit for Giving" at website http:www.wcf.org/donors/ways. For many of you DAV’ers charitable giv-ing is a planned and integral part of your life, and innovative ways of giving can magnify the effects of charitable dol-lars with benefits beyond personal satis-faction. Longtime Minneapolis DAV member Rob Hartley of Hartley Law Office, who is an attorney who specializes in estate planning is available and willing to as-

sist DAV / DAVA members if they have questions or need help in their planned giving. His office: 763-789-4394 or 3988 Central Avenue NE Columbia Heights, MN 55421 DAV of MN Foundation offers a variety of planned giving options to our friends and supporters. A planned gift is an ar-rangement between the donor and DAV that promises support to our mission through the donor’s estate. These gifts help the DAV of MN Foundation and the veterans we serve while providing income and tax benefits to the donor. Charitable Bequests: If you are unable to make an outright gift but would like to contribute to DAV of MN Foundation, you may want to consider a bequest. This option allows you to designate the MN DAV as a bene-ficiary in your will. This gift will not af-fect your current income and may help reduce the estate taxes owed after your death. Charitable Gift Annuities: A charitable gift annuity is a legal contract where the donor transfers assets to the DAV of MN Foundation. In exchange for the donor’s irrevocable gift, MN DAV will provide fixed, annual payments to the donor or their designated recipient. The size of the payments depends on the age of the recipient at the time of the gift. In addi-tion to guaranteeing annual income to the donor, these gifts help the donor to reduce their tax liability. Charitable Remainder Trusts: These gifts provide lifetime income to a donor through a contribution of cash, stocks or

other appreciated property to a trust. The income is paid based on a fixed amount (charitable remainder annuity trust) or an amount based on the trust’s assets (charitable remainder unitrust). These trusts provide a tax deduction and capital gains tax advantages while allowing the donor to enjoy a continued but limited interest in the asset. Charitable Lead Trust: A donor cre-ates a charitable lead trust by transfer-ring the ownership of an asset to a trust. The trust gives the income, or a percent-age of the income to MN DAV Founda-tion each year for a period of years (usually a minimum of five). At the end of this period, the trust assets are given back to the donor or named beneficiar-ies. The lead trust typically is used with assets with a potential for continued high appreciation. By utilizing the lead trust, a donor may leave a significantly larger inheritance to his or her heirs than he or she could have left via a will or other trusts. Securities, Bonds and Other Appreci-ated Property: Gifts of appreciated stocks, bonds or other appreciated property have the same positive benefit to the DAV of MN Foundation as a gift of cash, but these gifts usually are more beneficial to the donor than a cash gift. Insurance Policies: The DAV of MN Foundation can be named as the benefi-ciary of the donor’s life insurance policy. It is also possible to assign the policy’s dividends to MN DAV Foundation as current, tax-deductible gifts. Dean Ascheman, Board Chair DAV of MN Foundation

DAV of Minnesota Foundation, Planned Giving & Charitable Bequests

DAV State Commander Bob Erickson attended the Rochester Mayo-Hiawatha Chapter 28 meet-ing on Nov. 9th to update the Chapter on membership recruitment results as well as present to Chapter 28 Commander Rich Daly , the State Commanders Outstanding Service Award for his outstanding service to veterans in SE Minnesota. Mr. Daly also recently received the Lourdes High School Foundations, Alumni of the Year Award in recognition of his service to the community. Daly is a 1966 graduate of Lourdes High School and a disabled veteran of the VietNam war. In attendance at the meeting was Chapter 28 mem-ber and DAV Past National Commander Jim Sursely ( currently living in Apopka Fl.).Sursely, also a graduate of Lourdes class of 1966 was alumni of the year in 2002. Mayo-Hiawatha Chapter of the DAV is a 700 member organization that covers SE MN. The Chap-ter is recognized as one of the most community active Chapters in the State thanks to the Daly leadership as well as the many members passion to serve veterans in the SE MN community

Rich Daly Receives MN State Commander Outstanding Service Award

(L-R) Jim Sursely, State Commander Bob Erickson, Ch Commander Rich Daly & Ch.

member Joe Oppold

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MN Department Office:

651-291-1212 or

Toll Free 888-317-2291

www.davmn.org

National HQ: 877-426-2838

www.dav.org

MN NSO Office: 612-970-5665

Mpls VA Transportation Office:

612-467-2768

St. Cloud VA Transportation

Office: 320-255-6480 x6676

Fargo NSO Office: 701-451-4636

Metro Area Thrift Pick-up Ser-

vice: 651-487-2002

Vehicle Donation: 866-920-7149

www.vehiclesforveterans.org

DAVA National HQ:

www.dav.org/dava

MN Dept. of Vets Affairs:

651-296-2562 or

www.mdva.state.mn.us

DAV of MN Apparel: http://

ces.landsend.com/DAVofMN

Important

Numbers &

Websites:

We recently celebrated Veterans Day and we certainly felt is was every DAV members’ du-ty to keep the memory of our wartime sacrifice alive in the hearts of the American people. Our DAV of MN Foundation also plays a big role in keeping that sacrifice in the hearts and minds of those who are vital to our success in our mission to fulfill the promises we made to those men and women who have served. We have residents in our MN Veterans Homes, who on this past Veterans Day, most of them aged, to stand tall, salute the flag with trembling hands and tears as they sing the Na-tional Anthem. At the end of the day, at each of the statewide homes, they return to their rooms and most likely turn on their TVs (provided by the DAV of MN Foundation) and continue to see Americans across the nation honor veterans. We have had disabled veterans who have had the unique opportunity again this year to hunt and fish in a very safe and accommodating environment at Camp Ripley, St. Joseph, New Ulm, Rochester, Ely and other Statewide communities thanks to the generosity of our Chapters and the Foundation. The two programs mentioned above are only two of the many MN DAV programs across the State that serves our veterans. These are all possible because of generous DAV mem-bers who support our DAV of MN Foundation. Our Foundation has made a profound impact on our MN veteran community this past year by granting over $52,000 in funds to Department, Chapter and Auxiliary projects and pro-grams serving veterans. In addition our DAV of MN Foundations DONOR CONNECTION PROGRAM has provided over $400,000 in handicapped equipment to MN veterans and their families (wheelchairs, stair lifts, scooters, power chairs, etc.). This program received National DAV attention at the Mid-Winter Conference as well as the National DAV maga-zine. DAV of MN Foundation…… What is it? What does it do? The DAV of MN Foundation is involved in fundraising for MN Disabled American Veterans programs and also provides grants to the Department of MN DAV and their Chapters and Units for state and local veteran’s service programs. The DAV of MN Foundation uses its funds three different ways: 1. Endowment – Funds that are endowed and only interest and dividends from this fund

are used for programs. These funds ensure the life of the Foundation. Recently the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee transferred another $10,000 into the endowment fund.

2. Restricted Funds – Funds that when given, the donor designated the funds be used for a specific purpose so they are restricted in use and must be used as the donor des-ignated. Some donors prefer these funds because of their wish to give to certain pro-grams. *see below funds

3. Unrestricted Funds – Funds that when donated are not designated for any specific program or purpose other than veterans programs. It is important we have undesig-nated funds that allow the Board of Directors to route financial grants to Chapters/Units/Organizations requesting grants for specific projects and causes serv-ing veterans outside of our specific funds scope. Donors can also specify and designate new funds.

We have many designated restricted funds established by donors to our Foundation. Restricted Funds MN DAV National Service Officers Fund - designated for outreach, education, office equipment and administrative help. North Dakota DAV National Service Officers Fund - designated to assist the office in Fargo, that supports Northern MN Veterans. Homeless/Needy Veteran Fund - designated to assist needy and homeless veterans with

(Continued on page 11)

Appeal from the DAV of MN Foundation

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Enclosed is my gift of

$ _______________

Make checks payable to

DAV of Minnesota

Foundation

Please notify the following person of my gift:

Name:_____________________________________________________

Address:__________________________________________________

City:____________________________ State:_______ Zip:________

□ I have included the Foundation in my will.

□ Please send information about including the Foundation in

my will.

Mail to: DAV of Minnesota Foundation | State Veterans Service Building | Floor 3 | St Paul, MN 55155 Phone: 651-291-1212 | Fax: 651-291-0115 | E-mail: stephen@davmn.org | www.davmn.org/foundation

If this is a memorial or

honorary gift, please

Complete the following:

My gift is □ in honor of

□ in memory of

Name: ___________________________

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Address:______________________________________________________________________________

City:__________________________________________State:________________Zip:________________

Daytime Phone:__________________E-mail:_________________________________________________

clothing or other emergency assistance required. DAV Transportation Fund - designated to help support the DAV transportation programs at the St. Cloud and Minneap-olis VAMCs. This program involves the vans and volunteer drivers who transport veterans to and from their medical appointments at the VA Medical Center from across MN Counties and metro areas. DAV Department Office Fund - designated to assist the DAV Department office with education, office equipment and outreach. DAV Auxiliary Fund - designated to assist the Auxiliary De-partment with travel expenses, education and equipment. MN Veterans on the Lake Fund - designated to assist the Veterans on the Lake Resort in Ely, MN. This resort provides unique fishing resort opportunities for veterans. Minneapolis, St. Cloud or Fargo VAVS Fund - designated to help the Volunteer Services at the hospital with expenses incurred with the volunteer programs and provide finances for DAV and DA VA programs targeting veterans at the VA Medical Centers and Cemetery. Minneapolis, Hastings, Fergus Falls, Silver Bay or Luverne Veterans Home Fund - designated to help each of the 5 MN veterans’ homes with their outreach programs i.e. the TV programming, closed circuit TV system, employee and volunteer recognition and entertainment for residents. MN Veterans Home TV Replacement Fund - designated to provide the funds necessary to replace the TVs in the resi-dents rooms and dayrooms in the Statewide MN Veterans Homes. This is a major project costing more than $200,000. Armed Forces Service Center (AFSC) Fund - designated to assist the AFSC with monthly expenses they incur with providing support to veterans and their families at the Mpls/St. Paul International Airport Friends of the Minneapolis Veterans Homes Fund – This fund was established by the 934th Air Lift Wing at the Minne-apolis Airport (Air Force Reserve) to recognize staff and vol-unteers at the Minneapolis Veterans home. They felt strong-ly that recognition of staff and volunteers, especially those that go beyond the call of duty, was very important and ask

that others join them in their effort. Disabled Veterans Rest Camp on Big Marine – This fund was established by St. Paul Ch. 2 to provide funds to the camp for veterans. MN Counties Van Replacement Fund – This fund is used to provide MN Counties $2000 grants when they request funds to purchase a new County van for transporting veterans. These funds are provided when they complete their cam-paign with only $2000 remaining. MN DAV Hunting/Fishing Programs for disabled veter-ans – This fund is used to provide funds for the various hunting and fishing programs we have for disabled veterans at Camp Ripley, Ely, Fergus Falls/Orwell Dam, Pheasant hunts near St. Cloud, etc. The Board of Directors ask that you consider the DAV of MN Foundation in your 2012 giving plans as the Foundation is truly committed to "Fulfilling our promises to the men and women who have served". We have established a goal of $25,000 for this annual 2012 appeal to the over 20,000 members in our great State. As we end the year 2012, we would like all DAV Chapters, their Auxiliary Units and all the members of Minnesota DAV and DAVA to consider a dona-tion to the DAV of MN Foundation. Your generosity is im-portant to our programs. We would appreciate whatever donation you feel is appropriate. If each of you (our statewide membership) would donate $25 it would add $500,000 to the Foundation…. $25 will go a long way in our efforts to build better lives for today’s disabled veterans. Remember: “WE MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT WE GET... BUT WE MAKE A LIFE BY WHAT WE GIVE”. Serving You and MN DAV; Stephen Whitehead Stephen Whitehead, Executive Dir. Dean Ascheman Bob Erickson Dean Ascheman, Bd. Chair Bob Erickson, State Commander

(Continued from page 10)

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Auxiliary Officers 2012-2013

Commander . . . . . .. . .. . . …... . .….....Karen Siltanen

Sr. Vice Commander. . . .. . ... ... . . . Robyn Kenney

1st Jr. Vice Commander . . … ...Carmen Mickelson

2nd Jr. Vice Commander . . …………......Tammy Hill

Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. . . …. . . ..Nancy Berndt

Judge Advocate . . . . . . . ..... ... .. . … .Lois McCarron

Chaplain .. . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . .…….Samantha Forcier

PDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ... . . . ...…...Marilyn Hardt

Adjutant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……... . …. . LeeAnn Karg

Assistant Adjutant……….…………….Marilyn Hardt

Department Officers 2012-2013

Commander. . . . . . . . ….. …………..…Bob Erickson

Sr. Vice Commander .. . . . . . .... …. ..Greg Peterson

1st Jr. Vice Commander……….….. Durbin Keeney

2nd Jr. Vice Commander . . . ... …. .. Chuck Haberle

3rd Jr. Vice Commander…………....Gary Valtinson

4th Jr. Vice Commander……………...…..Ken Kelley

Treasurer . . . . . . . .. . .. . ... . . . . . . ……...Rob Hartley

Judge Advocate . . . . . ... . . . ……….. .…….. Van Karg

Chaplain.. . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . ... ….. Richard Jenkins

Past Dept. Commander…....………David Valtinson

Adjutant/Executive Dir……..Stephen Whitehead

HQ Staff

Director of Operations………………...Josh Vrtacnik

Business Manager . . . . … . . . . .… . Shauna Hutter

Department Service Officer…….…….John Carson

Administrative Assistant……………….Gina Lindell

Minneapolis VAMC HSC…....Babette Blumenauer

St. Cloud VAMC HSC………………………..Ken Kelley

State Veterans Service Bldg.

Saint Paul, MN 55155

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