Embedded Files
President – Brenda Ogden
1st Vice – Frances Cousins
2nd Vice – Vacancy
Secretaries – Jennifer Cousins
Treasurer – Lucy Vennen
January 2026
January 2026
Historian – Emma Busby
Chaplain – Vacancy
Sgt-at-Arms – Vacancy
Color Bearer – Emma Busby
Color Bearer – Vacancy
Publicity – Janice Charlesworth
Executive Committee:
Vacancy (3 years)
Vacancy (2 years)
Vacancy (1 year)
The next General Membership Meeting of the Auxiliary will be held at 7 pm, January 6th at the hall. Dinner is served at 6 PM.
We are collecting membership dues for the year 2026. Please bring a check or cash. If you have not yet paid your dues for the year 2025, please pay as soon as possible! Your dues have to be up to date for the previous year prior to paying for the next year. If you would like to pay your dues for 2026 and are not concerned about continuous membership, you may just pay for 2026. Dues for the Auxiliary are $36.00 and $9.00 for junior members.
For those of you who are paid members, please come to our meetings. Membership helps support us financially, but we need your help. We need ideas and help implementing those ideas. To encourage greater participation and community spirit, we invite members to bring a friend or family member to our upcoming meetings. Sharing our mission with others helps strengthen our organization and allows us to serve even more effectively. If you know someone who may be interested in joining or learning more about the Auxiliary, please extend an invitation to them to attend.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Veterans’ Breakfast: Saturday, July 12th from 8am - 11am. If you can help cook, the kitchen will open at 6:30 to begin preparing. We will need kitchen help and serving help.
Annual Awards Ceremony: Thursday, July 17th at the American Legion Hall. Dinner will begin at 6 pm and the distribution of awards will begin at 7pm. We will need help serving and working in the kitchen. Please keep your calendar open to attend this event. Our scholarship recipients and Girls State delegates will be recognized.
6th District Conference: Saturday, July 19th at the American Legion Hall. We will need help preparing and serving lunch. Please contact Brenda if you are able to attend.
STARC Halloween Party: Saturday, October 25th at 10am at the American Legion Hall. We know this is early, but calendars fill up fast and wanted to be sure you all know about this event.
Operation We Care (OWC) will pack on January 15,2026 at VFW 28000 MAIN STREET LACOMBE, LA. arrive at 10:30 a.m. for KING CAKES & MARDI GRAS 2026. Meet us at this location if you can help!
On December 3, 2025, we shipped 62 care boxes to our active-duty service members deployed outside of the USA.
Operation We Care is in desperate need of goods to send to servicemen and women. The Auxiliary voted to provide additional financial support by purchasing foil pouches of protein snacks (Tuna, Chicken) once a quarter. Without donations of snack size items, Operation We Care is in danger of missing shipments. If you can donate items or wish to donate funds to purchase items, please call Brenda Ogden (985-705-1235). If you know a deployed service member, please add their information on the website www.operationwecare.com
YOU CAN HELP! Do you know of a business, school club, or church group looking to support a charitable organization by hosting a drive to collect needed items? Contact Brenda Ogden, OWC needs your help.
The Auxiliary continues to support cash prizes to the Forest Manor Nursing Home’s BINGO for residents. The facility Bingo Games have resumed. The November Game was played and 7 residents were WINNERS. December 17, 2025 Game had 8 winners. A reminder to all of us, if you are not feeling well, please stay home and take care of yourself, don’t expose others!
On December 4, 2025 the Auxiliary brought Christmas Gifts from UNIT 16 to the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Home.
The Special Needs Christmas Party was on December 6, 2025. The STARC residents arrived at 10:00AM. We asked volunteers to arrive by 9:30 A.M. STARC provides a lifetime of Services, Training, Advocacy, Resources and Community Connections for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in St. Tammany and four surrounding parishes. Our guests were welcomed by our very own ELF (Thomas Aldrich). Each guest received an Elf Hat, as we waited for Santa Claus (Dick Pearl) who read a Christmas book, we sang Christmas carols, and Santa and his helper gave out Christmas Stockings with candy, socks, and trinkets. Each guest received a wrapped Christmas Gift of a lap blanket purchased through Fund Raising by the Auxiliary members. Our guests were served lunch and cupcakes for dessert.
The Wreaths Across America Date was on DECEMBER 13, 2025, at 11 am. We are very happy to report to members that we have successfully been able to purchase 460 wreaths this year. We want to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to all that contributed to the success this year. The Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, 34888 Grantham College Dr. Slidell, LA., currently has 3500 Veterans laid to rest. The National American Legion Auxiliary has adopted this worthwhile program as well.
Let’s get a good start for 2026! Any amount you can donate is appreciated and welcomed. As you come into Post 16 near the door, we have a donation box and Sponsorship Forms for your convenience. Look for the Wreaths Across America CHRISTMAS TREE!
www.wreathsacrossamerica.org or you can call 877-385-9504
The Auxiliary’s Location Code is: LASLVC
Group Fundraising Number: LA0072P
Please use the above information when placing your sponsorship order online to ensure the wreaths go to our local veteran’s cemetery. If you have any questions, please call Pam Herty at 985-264-9980.
Check out our newly created Facebook Page!
Just click on the image to the left to get to us and see all of the activities available for members.
Thank you, Emma Busby, for setting up and maintaining this site!
The Auxiliary is looking for volunteers to make baked goods to raffle during BINGO GAMES. This is our major fund-raising activity. If you can bake something to raffle, please contact Brenda (985-705-1235) or if you would like to drop off a purchased or a baked item feel free to leave at the office with the Post Secretary, Ms. Fran, during business hours at the Post from 9AM to 3PM, Monday through Friday.
With these funds, the Auxiliary:
provides Christmas gifts for the 130 Veterans in the Southeast Veterans’ War Home in Reserve, LA
sponsors wreaths for veteran graves at the Southeast Veteran Cemetery in Slidell through Wreaths Across America
sponsors three holiday Special Needs Parties for STARC residents during the year
sponsors local Poppy Poster Contest for schools, awards $300 in prizes and forwards local winners to state
pays for two girls from each local high school (~10) to attend Louisiana Girls State
awards up to five $1,000 scholarships to high school graduating seniors
If you can help us with donated baked goods or purchased baked goods, please contact Brenda Ogden (985-705-1235).
Auxiliary Juniors
In the photo to the left, Auxiliary Juniors are decorating bags to wrap Christmas presents for veterans living in the Southeast Louisiana Veterans’ Home.
Brenda Odgen requests that all Junior Members call her to participate in our programs.
(985) 705-1235
American Legion Auxiliary Scholarship
American Legion Auxiliary Scholarship
The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 16 Scholarship for 2026 Graduating Seniors Students (boys and girls) with a direct bloodline to a veteran with current active duty or an honorable discharge have been released.
There are FOUR MUST HAVES for this application:
1 - DD214 from the servicemember or a copy of current active-duty orders
2 - A Certified Transcript from at least 7 semesters of high school
3 - A copy of ACT or SAT scores
4 - Letter of recommendation from the counselor or principal concentrating on the applicant’s character, size of the graduating class; student's position in the class (we know you do not do class rank but you do know if the student is in the top 25% of a class or the top 10% of a class would be helpful) and the cumulative grade point average. Character recommendation needs to be included.
The information and applications have been sent to the area schools/administrators/Principals and Counselors. We encourage all to apply!
DEADLINE IS MARCH 6, 2026
YOU MUST HAVE A DD214 WITH THE APPLICATION
** No Exceptions **
We now have a “Give Butter” account allowing us to accept donations electronically through Paypal, Venmo, Credit Cards and Apple Pay. Hopefully this will boost our donations allowing us to be more generous in our veteran endeavors.
If you are attending a charitable event, to raise funds for the Auxiliary, please contact Lucy Vennen at lvennen@gmail.com. She will email you a printable QR code to tape to your table for people to use to donate funds.
Check out the QR code on the right. Give Butter is quite easy to use!
Scan this with you phone's camera
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