Department President

WOW!  I can’t believe it is that time of the year again!!  YES, I am talking about reporting. The most important part of reporting is the reporting.  All our volunteer hours make a huge impact on the information that the American Legion takes forth to Congress.  Anything that you volunteer doing will likely fall into an auxiliary reporting category rather you are doing it for the American Legion Auxiliary or not. Hopefully, you have gotten that impact report to your unit president, as they are due the 15th of April Do you sit on a board within your community?  Hours and any money spent are likely reportable as community service, unless it is specific to veterans.  Do you donate blood?  Boom, National Security hours!  Do you volunteer to drive a veteran (not your spouse) to appointments?  Boom again, Service to a Veteran!  You see where I am going with this!!!  If you haven’t turned your report in, hurry and get it to your unit president, she just might take it a day or two late.

Unit Committee reports are due to your department chair for that committee by April 30.  All the names, addresses, and emails for those chairs can be found in the Blue Book on our site under publications.  Please, make sure you are sending those reports directly to the appropriate chairman and NOT to the Department Office.  Reports sent to the office run the risk of not being included.  Pictures are encouraged BUT don’t include them in your narrative.  Attach them separately to the email so that your photo has a chance if making the big screen at National Convention!

 Thank you all for the fantastic work you are doing within Iowa!! Please make sure that your committee chairs get the information they need for their reports!

 As always, please invite me to your events and if you need anything please feel free to call!

Kim Dixon

Department Junior President

Hello, I hope you all are doing well. I am so sorry that I have not been keeping you all up to date on what is going on. I broke my finger, so it's been lots of doctor visits. First, thank you all for collecting pop tabs and donating the items for my projects. We have talked about at our junior meeting with what we want to do for 250 years' birthday, so for my unit, we will be collecting 250 food items and distributing them to veterans. I encourage you all to have your Junior do something for the 250 years. This includes (250 food can items for veterans, walk 250,000 steps, take 250 photos of something around your community). We also spend a lot of time on social media so they could also do 250 videos or tiktoks or reels. Now don't think you older people can get out of this there is plenty of things you can do to which includes (write 250 cards to veterans, make care packages, it does not even have to be for the community maybe color 250 coloring pages by the end of the year or write a story with 250 words) I believe that all of you can think of something to do for the 250 years. The girls have been doing great at helping veterans and even helping people in their community.

Lea Campbell

Department Executive Director

Dear Auxiliary Sisters and Friends,

Thank you for the heart, time, and energy you give to the American Legion Auxiliary Department of Iowa. Because of your dedication, lives are changed, veterans are supported, and our communities are stronger. We’ve made our goal of 85% membership, but let's not stop now — and with a final collective push and timely assistance, we will get there. We now roll our main attention to reporting and forms.

Why timely reporting matters:

• It shows the real impact of our work on members, communities, and partners.
• It unlocks resources and recognition for our units.
• It helps leadership plan and respond quickly, so no effort is wasted.

How you can help right now:

1. Review your unit’s paperwork and forms today — make sure everything is complete and accurate. All forms are on www.iowaala.org
2. Submit all outstanding reports and documentation by the upcoming deadlines.
3. Reach out immediately if you need help locating forms, completing reports, or understanding requirements — we’re here to support you.
4. Share a quick success story or metric when you submit reports — every win motivates others and strengthens our case.

Need assistance?

Contact your district officers or Department staff — don’t wait. A quick phone call or email can clear up questions and get your reports across the finish line.

We believe in what we do, and we believe in each other. Let’s finish strong, hit our goal, and model the excellence the Auxiliary is known for. Thank you for your commitment — together we’ll make this our best year yet.

Crystal Wright

Department Historian

Happy Spring! 

With Spring in the air and a rejuvenation through various aspects of our lives we are also wrapping up the 2025-2026 Auxiliary year. Before we fully move on to the next year with new officers, new plans, and new rejuvenation, remember to make a conscious review of this year.  

**What things went well and what things flopped? 

**What things have run their course and need to be dropped or reevaluated? 

**Who were the key players this year and how can you keep them engaged? 

**What new members do you have? And what members need to be connected with? 

**How can you use all these things you have learned from your history to start shaping your future? 

As you are doing this review be sure to report your history to be added to the Department History along with reports for the different committees that are represented by your activities. 

Happy Reporting and Happy Spring!  

Alida Kolthoff

2nd District President

Greetings from 2nd District! Our spring conference just happens to be one of the last as it is scheduled for April 17th and 18th. Most likely by the time you are reading this it is the weekend of or has already passed. I want to thank everyone for their support over the past year.  I encourage everyone to keep up the good work on membership and supporting the programs of the American Legion Auxiliary.

Remember if your unit has some fund that you could donate to my President’s Project please send the donation to either myself or our District Treasurer. We want to build our Merit Award funds, so that we can continue to support the youth in our District.

While writing checks, make sure you are also supporting President Kim’s project or the other programs of the American Legion Family. These funds need to be sent to the department, and make sure if it is for a certain program that you include that information with your check. Crystal is good at her job, but I don’t think she can read your mind. If you don’t put the donation check list with your check, at least put a note of your intent. This will save time and make sure your donation is documented correctly.

Remember, one of the goals of the Auxiliary Emergency Fund chair is to reach a donation level of $1000 from each of our Districts. If you make a donation, send it through the department office, and let them know which district you are in as well. All of these donations will then be forwarded to the National office to assist with those that apply for grants due to national disasters. We are too familiar with what a quick storm can do as it rolls across our nation, be it rain, lightning, wind, tornado, or flooding, or wild fires, it all can cause unexpected damage.

By now your Girl State candidates should be registered and already made your payment. If a candidate changed her mind, please reach out to Department of Girl State Director Bev Copple as she has a waiting list of high school juniors who would love to have a sponsor and the opportunity to attend this wonderful week of education and growth of knowledge regarding our form of government. I am sure she would be willing to work on getting a candidate on the roster versus doing a refund.

Say a prayer of thanks for returning so many of our active military members back home this past month. We should always remember those that are deployed and may they return home safe as well. Also, remember members struggling with life issues, be it medical, financial, or mental. An extra prayer never hurts a single person.

God Bless America and all our veterans! I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Conference.

Helen Hildebrand

4th District President

Spring Conference weather was great!  The threat of rain held off and we were able to have a Memorial Prayer at the Veterans Memorial in Waucoma.  The Conference turnout was good and the information great.  We were happy to have Dept. Guests attend and share the morning with us.  In addition we had a presentation from the NE Iowa Vietnam Veterans group who are fundraising for a Memorial Park.  This memorial is being built by veterans and community members for the purpose of honoring those April is Military Family Month and Elaine Brookins made a Military Child table with the reminders for us all of what is missed in a family as they are serving our Country.  Keep them in your thoughts, prayers and if you have the opportunity to reach out in any way it will make a difference.  We also had a beautiful Poppy table display and closed our morning with a memorial for the dear members who passed.  We thank them for their support of the American Legion Auxiliary.

We also had those very important reminders that it is time to report what we have been doing in our Units this year.  This vital information is needed.  Please submit yours  timely.   The reports that I have received are packed with so many great activities, events and accomplishments.  It reminds me that, “Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much.”  Hellen Keller    It is the truth!  Copies of the County Reports have been sent to Unit Presidents and County Presidents so they are available to all.  Check them out!   You will find some great ways to serve veterans.

I would like to thank the Waucoma Post #189 and Unit for hosting the Conference and providing the delicious meal.  We couldn’t do this without the FAMILY that works together!  

Susan Franzen

6th District President

Greetings, Sixth District.  Thank you to all who made our Spring Conference so successful.  Special thanks to Grimes Unit 547 and Minburn Unit 99 for hosting the conference, and to Sherri and Curt Rosener for providing Be the One training to everyone who chose to attend.  I received a lot of positive feedback and words of appreciation for that training opportunity.  A big CONGRATULATIONS to the newly elected 6th District officers. What a capable set of young women we chose to lead us into the future!  

This is the one time of year we need to focus on the past. In addition to continuing efforts to collect unpaid membership dues, PLEASE take the time to submit year-end narratives and related photos of your 2025-2026 activities in the various areas of service. The narratives don’t need to be lengthy or eloquent, but the committee chairmen are responsible for submitting reports, too, and it’s impossible to report on activity you don’t know about.  Please send your narratives electronically to the Department Chairmen (listed in the Blue Book) with a copy to our 6th District Chairmen (listed in the 6th District Directory).  If you need help identifying any of those chairmen, just let me know.  I would love to receive a Unit Impact Report from every unit this year.  I have received only one report so far, but I know we’re still a couple of weeks from the due date.  Let’s toot our own horns and let everyone know how much time and money we dedicate to our veterans, our military families and our communities.  Be proud of what we do!  

Sharon Luellen

8th District President

HI, spring is officially here, and Iowa is truly beginning to look like it. Before long, the lawn mowers will be humming, planting will be in full swing, and Iowa’s landscape will be green and blooming with color.

The 8th District conference was on April 11th. A joint meeting with the Legion began the day. The auxiliary meeting followed with a nice attendance. Our guests included Crystal Wright, Department Executive Director, who addressed both sessions, representing Department President Kim Dixion. Crystal's message to the auxiliary was a reminder that there were forms due to the department in April. There were several questions from the floor about how to fill out the forms and where they should be sent.  Two other guests, Joyce Elliott and Doris Jackson, attended the conference. Joyce is running for Department Chaplain. Renee Muggenberg read an endorsement for Joyce. Good luck, Joyce. Doris is Jr. Camp PDP, and she shared that there are 32 girls registered for Jr. Camp, two of whom are coming from other states. Doris shared that there are only two states that have Jr. Camps in the United Stated and that 8th district has 4 girls going to Jr. Camp. The committee reports were interesting and informative.

The election of officers resulted in the election of a vice president, Debra Copeland from Charter Oak, who will be vice president for 2026-2027. Thank you, Debra. The remaining offices were filled by consent of the present officers, retaining their positions.

It was a good conference, and to those who attended, thank you; those who were unable to join us, you were truly missed.

In my last article, I shared that the 8th District received 2nd place in the Penny Wars. The prize was Walmart gift cards for the Penny Wars and the Reverse Raffle. It was discussed at the executive board meeting that the cards be sent to the Veterans home in Marshalltown to be used as needed.

Many things are happening on the Auxiliary level with the closing of 2026 and preparing for 2027. Unit Data forms are due to the Department by April 15, 2026. April 30th is the date Impac Reports are due to the County president. If your county unit has disbanded, then please send the unit Impact Report to the District President. It was brought to my attention that there may be some units that are unaware of the courtesy of having a memorial service when a member of their unit passes. If your unit chooses to celebrate that member with a short remembrance at a meeting, in the Manual of Ceremonies of the Auxiliary, there is an example of a ceremony. This manual can be found online at the National American Legion Auxiliary website. Search Manual of Ceremonies.

I would be happy to attend a meeting of your local unit or county. Please feel free to contact me. My information can be found in the 8th District American Legion Auxiliary handbook.

I am hopeful everyone had a Happy and Blessed Easter. Stay well and stay safe. Enjoy Spring!



Donna Jensen