President Ward issues challenge to units

By Jill Davis
American Legion Auxiliary National President Trish Ward of Kansas speaks on Oct. 24 at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud during the Fall Conference. Members of the Auxiliary were joined by members of the Legion and SAL to hear her words.

ST. CLOUD — National President Trish Ward of the Department of Kansas addressed the Fall Conference in St. Cloud on Thursday Oct. 24. President Ward is a retired corporate trainer and used her skills from her professional life to teach the Auxiliary throughout the country.

She is a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians. She spoke to an audience of about 150 Legion Family members for over an hour and half about a variety of topics that challenged and inspired the audience about how to improve the organization.

Ward shared that her focus this year is on the grass roots of the American Legion Auxiliary with the introduction of the Department Excellence initiative and Department Merit Medallion Recognition if five areas of focus are completed by a department.

Those areas are: 85 percent membership benchmark by March 2025 (which she acknowledged would be the hardest to achieve); completing the Department Impact Report by July 1; Governance Excellence, which includes a review of the Constitution & Bylaws and board responsibilities; Financial Policies and Process Excellence; Financial Donation Obligations, which is donating to various programs of focus.

The national president was blunt about the direction it has been going. In the last 10 years countrywide, 2,099 units have turned in their charters and lost around 166,000 members in that time. She explained what we as members can do to turn things around and get people to join the organization. She said that if you look at the American Legion posts that are surviving and thriving. They have one thing in common — The American Legion, the American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion work together as a team.

The presentation also included a wealth of information and resources. Many of the challenges that the American Legion Auxiliary are facing are things that have been written about and there are solutions out there.

She said it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel; there are books, articles, and classes that can help address the challenges of the organization. The Auxiliary Department Office will work with the national president to get a copy of her presentation and post it on the department website as a resource for everyone.