MOPHA General Orders Newsletter #7 - Zoom Thursday

General Orders Newsletter #7

February 2021

Show me the Money!

Let's Chat about the NEW VAVS Grant funds Available & Recap HOV Grants

Let's Discuss the Requirements and Details

MONTHLY ZOOM MEETING

Thursday, February 18th

8 PM EST / 5 PM PST

All Members Welcome

Invite a Guest! - Patriots and Friends Welcome to Join for Speaker

Meeting Code - 2020

Call in via telephone: 1-929-436-2866

Enter this Meeting ID: 4981 732 263

National President

Amanda Flener

Hopefully by the time this reaches your inbox, you will have seen the latest digital edition of Purple Heart Magazine. If you haven't seen it, you can click here to view starting with the Auxiliary Cover. CLICK HERE

The Purple Heart Service Foundation gave us the first installment of our funds to offer grants for Veteran Projects to our Units/Departments and VAVS Reps. We're waiting on a final clearance on the Grant Application. You'll be hearing about this on Thursday on Zoom.

Please note the contact for National VAVS:

LINDA VAREJCKA

450 Conestoga Ave., Hickman, NE 68372

c-402-580-2549 - jfvarejcka@windstream.net

Regarding the National Convention, my leadership team has been able to continue meetings with MOPH for planning towards an in person (and even hybrid) National Convention this year. More details should evolve later this week and I'll keep our members informed of details as they develop.

Be Safe and Stay Well,

Amanda

aflener1@gmail.com or mophaux@gmail.com

229-325-8106

National Senior Vice President

Colleen Orfanello

“Sew” in LOVE with this project!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. My family and I spent Valentine’s day sewing pillows cases for our local homeless/transitional Veteran’s home. This project was “SEW” much fun to do. Not only will our Veterans enjoy a fresh, clean new pillow; they will also enjoy the words of comfort that is written on the pillowcase. For this project, we chose a fabric that reads: “YOU ARE WORTHY, YOU ARE VALUED, and YOU ARE LOVED”.

The Pillowcases were made with fabric from the MOPHA collection, made by our friends at Spoonflower Fabrics. The MOPHA collection has several designs for you to choose from. They can be ordered by the yard or fat-quarter. The fabrics also come in various materials such as cotton and fleece.

Ordering Purple Heart themed fabric is easy! Simply visit Spoonflower.com and type in MOPHA in the website’s search-bar. The material is competitively priced and is shipped quickly.

I am considering making vests for my Unit’s volunteers at our VA facilities, lap blankets for our War Homes, even perhaps tote bags and other projects… The possibilities are endless.

Before last year, I had not sewn anything before other than missing buttons. These pillows were very easy and quick to make. I used an online video to assist me with the project.

The Veteran’s home will place a pillow on every new resident’s bed. When the resident is shown where he or she will be sleeping, one of the first things they will see are the words of comfort on this pillow. I can’t wait until they are delivered, and we receive feedback.

Join us for this month’s zoom meeting and YOU may be the lucky recipient of a $25 gift certificate from Spoonflower! I’ll have more details on the Zoom call.

Colleen

colleen.mopha@gmail.com

National Junior Vice President

Kay Jo Baucom

Carpe diem! Most of us will recognize this Latin phrase introduced by the Roman poet, Horace, as it is translated in our modern terms as "Seize the day!" Current users of the phrase have grabbed onto these words with gusto. For me, these words resonate with distinct meaning.

The pandemic has stolen our human connectedness and isolation has been most unsettling for many, not only our service men and women but everyone. Death, depression and anxiety have overtaken so many and the words, "seize the day" take on new meaning , if we look seriously at the implications. Traditionally, many of us would be busying ourselves with hospital, nursing home and veteran facilities visitations. Getting and giving hugs, sharing family gatherings and meeting with groups of friends as we celebrate special days, anniversaries and honor those historical persons who paved the way for us. Flowers, balloons, candy and cards would be delivered personally to those we cherish, respect and honor. The pandemic has changed all that.

Now, those we most enjoy seeing and spending time with are isolated and often separated from familiar faces. This isolation has taken away the joy of sharing service related stories, remembering the "good ole days" and being in the presence of someone who cares and will listen. Here is where the carpe diem phrase comes in. If we truly "seize the day", then we enjoy the now, focus on the time we have and spend the hours doing what we can not only for our enjoyment but also showing kindness in those hours to others. Being a "people person", the pandemic has been difficult for me. I am a natural hugger and thrive on being with others, so I can relate to a degree, to the loneliness and sadness of those with little to no interaction with the outside world. I have been fortunate to have family and friends to check in and help out thus far during these long months of CoVid 19.

It's time for our creative juices to get stirred up and for us to begin thinking of ways we can show kindness to someone else and not be face-to-face. Each one of us has specific talents and resources that can be used to brighten even the dreariest of days for someone else. It is amazing what a smile can do, and sharing a laugh is contagious with its effects. Checking in, equates to caring, and our MOPH and MOPHA families certainly do care!. A simple phone call from one veteran to another or one member to another can change a person's entire day. It allows conversation where there may have been none and demonstrates interest and places value on that individual' life. If a phone call is not possible, why not a text or email? This still shows interest and caring. We all miss being together in the same space and sharing those feelings connects us to those who are dealing with the same feelings. If you have children, grandchildren or Junior members a card that says "we are thinking of you can bring on the biggest smile. A calling tree can connect us, if individual calls can't be made. We can check in on our fellow members in this way- keeping up with important events in the lives of our membership builds a sense of family and togetherness. Really, there is no limit to the acts of caring and kindness that we can do!

We are the heart of service and we are the MOPHA, with the mission to serve others. Every day brings a new opportunity to to share our love of the United Staes, our service men and women, their families and our communities. We can and do make a difference through our words and actions in the lives of those who first served us. My hope for each of you, is that you enjoy each day, for it is a gift and that we together, seize the day so that it can be shared with others. May God continue to bless each of you and this great nation!

Kay Jo

kjb531028@gmail.com

CLICK HERE to shop online and support our Auxiliary.

Rada has amazing cutlery, food items and items that would be perfect in your kitchen or to GIVE AS GIFTS!

National Secretary

Judy Fiddler

Happy February to all…

Time is drawing near again to elect your 2021-22 officers. Please consider holding an office either with your Unit or Department (if you have one). You are always welcome to run for an office

at National.

Just wanted to let everyone know…the minutes from our Virtual Convention last August are ready to be shared. Anyone, wishing a copy, can send me a request by email

(mophauxsec@gmail.com). If you wish to have them on CD, there is a $5.00 charge and can be ordered on the supply form found on our website. I will be sending them to the National Officers, Department and Unit Presidents, as well as the Past National Presidents, by email, sometime after February 17th.

Some good news to share: The computer that I work with has finally decided it’s tired and

wants to retire. It was one of three purchased by the MOPH Service Foundation more than 11 years ago. A donor, who would like to remain anonymous, has graciously purchased the Auxiliary a new one, with a CD reader/writer and software. Many thanks go out to this person.

Please stay safe. Please stay warm.

Yours in Patriotism,

Judy

mophauxsec@gmail.com

Helping Our Veterans (HOV)

We've given out $3600 in HOV Grants!

Don't miss out this year. Request yours today.

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Your Department or Unit can request funds too! Each Unit or Department can request a one time grant of up to $250. Applications on our website at www.PurpleHeartAuxiliary.org

Email National President - Amanda Flener at mophaux@gmail.com or aflener1@gmail.com for questions or pre-approval.