Tag Archive: Edmonds Food Bank

VFW/Legion Christmas Party

by Duane Bowman

VFW/Legion Christmas Party

Our annual Christmas Party held on Saturday December 16 was a great success.

Thanks go out to Dan Mullene and American Legion Post 66 for co-hosting the event. Special thanks to my two decorating elves from our Auxiliary, Jo Boyett and Patsy Ethridge-Neal for all their hard work.

Great food and conversation were had plus we raised $500 from raffle items that was split with the American Legion.

VFW/Legion Christmas Party

We also raised $4,290 from our raffle of Michael Reagan’s Seahawks Legend poster. In addition, Michael did a special presentation to Michelle Clyborne of a portrait of her father, who served in the Special Forces in Vietnam.

We collected a lot of toys and food which I delivered to the Edmonds Food Bank by with the assistance of Quartermaster Joe Gray, to add to those already delivered from the collection at Teri’s Toybox, the downtown Edmonds toy store.

VFW/Legion Christmas Party

The Legion’s winter clothing Drive also received a lot of donations. The generosity of both the VFW and American Legion members is amazing!

If you weren’t able to make it to the party, we hope to see you there next year!

April Speaker Casey Davis of Edmonds Food Bank

April Speaker Casey Davis of Edmonds Food Bank

At the April Post meeting, Casey Davis, Executive Director of Edmonds Food Bank spoke to us about the Food Bank’s operations and it’s potential impact on veterans in need. 

The mission of the food bank, operating out of the Edmonds United Methodist Church, is to provide, free of charge, fresh and nutritious food to families needing help who are located in Edmonds and in the surrounding communities of South Snohomish County. 

Hunger affects many of us. One life transition – job loss or change, health issue, family crisis, cuts in benefits – can make it so we must choose between healthy food and other necessities. Often, we just need a little assistance. The Carol Rowe Memorial Edmonds Food Bank operates to provide that help. Open on Mondays & Tuesdays, 50 weeks a year. 

Davis points out that Edmonds has the largest percentage of veterans (11%) in its population of any city in Snohomish County, with far more of them in need of some level of help than we might think. 

Davis discussed with post members some ideas of the kind of assistance VFW might offer to reach those veterans in need, such as having cover wearing members as volunteers on food distribution days, holding regular food donation drives, among others. We agreed that discussion among our staff and membership is in order toward reaching out to veterans who might be in need of food assistance.

Annual Legion/VFW Joint Christmas Party Held

Annual Legion/VFW Joint Christmas Party Held

The Silver Bells Carolers brought a mood of heightened festivity.
To the caroler’s left is a beautiful hand-made quilt donated by Dorothy Harkness, which was bought at auction by Buck Weaver.

Annual Legion/VFW Joint Christmas Party Held

Ron Clyborne displays raffle winnings.

Dinner which included turkey, ham and all the trimmings was enjoyed by a nearly full house.

Many thanks to Paul Bustard for providing turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Raffle items donated by the post leadership brought over $ 1,000 for the general fund. Members also donated food for the Edmonds Food Bank and new toys for disadvantaged children, long-standing traditions for this event.

Annual Legion/VFW Joint Christmas Party Held

You’re Invited to Christmas Dinner

Our annual Christmas and Holiday Dinner will be held on December 13th at 1:00PM at the American Legion Hall at 117 6th Ave. S. in Edmonds. Admission is free but if you can, bring an unwrapped toy and/or non-perishable food items. Following the Dinner, we will deliver the food to the Edmonds Food Bank and the toys to Holly House. We will be holding a low key raffle with various baskets and other items in the raffle.

At the last meeting we passed around a list of items i.e. salads, deserts, etc., needed for the meal. We will pass it around again at December’s meeting which is the day before our party. Otherwise, just show up with an appetite and spend a couple of hours with us.

And by the way, your family members are invited to this as well as any veterans you may know that you would like to invite. We don’t plan on publishing this to the public as we have limitations on the amount of food we will have available.