So how do posts access dollars from Fund 85?

With January already almost over, and more requests through the posts coming in, this article will touch on what is needed from the posts before a funding request gets to me.

As you may or may not know, The American Legion’s Minnesota Veterans Assistance Fund (MVAF) starts or is supposed to start at the veteran’s closest local post. The veteran should meet with the post service officer or commander to get the application started. Sometimes, it is a trusted member designated by the commander instead.

The veteran in need will need to fill out the initial help link to get into the system. The Link can be found on the mnlegion.org website, under the “Veteran Services” tab, and at the bottom, click “Veterans Assistance Fund.”

After clicking the Veterans Assistance Fund link, you will be taken Minnesota Veterans Assistance Fund information page. This page gives the information on qualification and eligibility.

At the bottom, in red letters, it says “How to Apply.”Click “Complete It Now” under Step 1 and have the veteran fill out their information. When that’s completed, it sends me an email automatically stating someone has requested help. Now the veteran is in the Unite Us system, and the work can begin!

What’s Unite Us? It is an online system where nonprofits connect in their efforts to help people. It helps eliminate silos, duplicative efforts and fraud, and it improves coordination.

It’s now up to the post service officer, commander or commander’s designee to gather the information needed, review it to see if they qualify, and then submit it to me to review. If at that time if something was missed, or seems out of place, I can catch it and follow up with the post.

At the post service officer’s or commander’s request, I will travel to your post to conduct Fund 85 training. If you have questions, read through the information and eligibility page. The info page can answer almost all questions.

With the post’s participation, we can get that much closer to reaching all of Minnesota’s veterans in need!

For the questions the website or training cannot answer, call or email me at 320-425-2945 or [email protected].

Jason Storm is the assistant department service officer for The American Legion Department of Minnesota. His email is [email protected].