Friends, Members and fellow Patriots:
The following document is a few months old but it speaks clearly to a need to find a way to connect our generation with today’s youth. Our chapter website is www.ncoarogue.org and is a good example of what our chapter is doing. Take a look at it and you will find a wide spectrum of activities that cross the full spectrum of age involvement. It donned on me that I had not shared our chapter website with most of our membership, so here it is.
Finding a way to connect, even in a small way, is important, not just for our organization, but for all. It is even important for families to improve communication. Cell phones have replaced talking and now people predominantly text instead of speak to each other. This process is placing a roadblock into simple communication. The fact that texting may be quicker, we cannot lose sight of the value of having a conversation with our families or our younger generation.
I am hopeful that you will do more than read this email and the attached document. I am hopeful that you will think about it and share your ideas with me. Let’s start a conversation!
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example
Terry M. Haines
Chairman, Rogue Chapter #1260
NCOA
541-601-8467
2017 was a challenging yet very rewarding year. The chapter had almost 21,000 hours of community service and raised almost $13,000 that we gave to worthy community groups and projects.
Last year we lost one of our past leaders when Herb Robb passed away but we have also had a surge in new members’ thanks in part to participation in a weekly veteran’s breakfast. Success brings growth and last year we had a successful Snowflake event bringing 4 gold star families to Boatnik for 3 days of fun. We also had several members act as guardians for an Honor Flight that took 23 WW2 & Korean vets back to Washington DC to see their memorials. We initiated a program to recognize law enforcement personnel that was adopted nationally by NCOA and we held our first annual 5K VeteRUN which brought almost 100 community citizens out to run and enabled us to have the single largest fund raiser in the history of our chapter.
As we move forward as an organization, it is important that the numerous past accomplishments of the men and women who have been members of NCOA do not fall into the oblivion created by our aging population. Our grandkids need to know what has been accomplished in the past and more importantly why these things were important enough for our generation to invest the blood, sweat & tears as well as our money and time in. In order to take a step in that direction I have been reaching out to our younger generation seeking input as to what is important to them. What are they willing to do or invest their time and finances on in order to arrive at a similar level of satisfaction that prompted us to do what we did? Times have changed and we have to be willing to adapt or everything we have done will fade into oblivion when we die.
To that end, I am seeking input and utilizing my position on NCOA’s International Board of Directors to see if there are programs or causes that will resonate with today’s young troops. So far I have gotten feedback like “why doesn’t NCOA partner with Habitat for Humanity to help build housing for our poor.” “Why doesn’t NCOA take on social problems like trying to curb veteran suicide because 22+ veterans are committing suicide every single day?” “Why does NCOA require membership to attend brick and mortar meetings every month in order to stay in good standing?” These issues are just the tip of the iceberg but ones that we can no longer afford to sweep under the rug. We can evolve or we can die and I didn’t invest the last 30+ years of my life on something to just give up and fade away. How about you? Do you have ideas? Do you want to be part of the solution? Join me. I want to hear from you!