COMMUNITY SERVICE

 STATE COMMUNITY SERVICE CHAIRMAN

 
 NICK CAMERA
4607 Marsh Creek Drive
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29582
HOME: (843) 390-4124 CELL: (732) 213-3807
ncamera1@gmail.com 
Post 10804  D-7

 

NOTICE:

The Community Service reporting year is now in sync with National and started on 1 July  through 30 June.

 

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY SERVICE TO THE VFW:

The VFW and its Auxiliary’s ability to impact veterans, youth, patriotism, civic pride, volunteerism and just about anything you can name is dependent upon your Post’s being recognized as a caring and involved participant in the community.  All of the great deeds performed by comrades across South Carolina should be recognized and accounted for.

For this reason, Community Service reporting is an important requirement of every Post in the Department of South Carolina.  Community service is also part of the criteria for All State recognition.


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**** COMMUNITY SERVICE GUIDELINES ****

What is Community Service and what should I report?

Click this link to find those answers.

Reporting your Community Service activities:

In this Department, we use our www.vfwsc.org  website to report activities electronically.  Each Post should submit reports using our online report form as activities are completed or at least monthly AND ONLY by the Commander’s designated individual.  Please DO NOT wait until the end of the reporting year to report activities. Instructions for individual comrades are included below.

 

Here are simple instructions for online reporting for the Commander’s reporting designee:

1.   Go to www.vfwsc.org

2.  Log into "Members Only” using your Member # as Username and last name as Password

3.  Click on the link labeled "Community Service Reporting” and fill out the information for EACH ACTIVITY.  All your AUXILIARY numbers should be combined at the Post and reported here

4.  After you submit, you'll receive an email with your report details

 

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOUR REPORTS INCLUDE AN EXPLANATION OF HOW THE ACTIVITY MEETS THE CRITERIA FOR THE CATEGORY YOU ARE REPORTING!  Incomplete reports will not be approved and will be returned for revision.   Once reports are clarified, the chairman will approve the report and the results will be added to the Department’s Report Card.

 

Note: You may combine reports for similar activities.  For example, a comrade volunteers at the local food bank every Wednesday during the month for 2 hours. Submit ONE REPORT for one comrade for 8 HOURS (4 Wednesdays) and include the dates in the description block of the online report form.

 

Once your online reports are approved, you will find the report totals for your Post on the Department's Report Card.

Community Service Report forms at your Post.

It’s recommended that you maintain a folder or binder at your Post for individual comrades to pick up and complete the INDIVIDUAL REPORT FORMS for COMRADES. These forms can be collected by the Commander’s designated Community Service representative and then submitted monthly using the online report system.  Click on this blue link to download the Individual Report form:

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE REPORT FORM FOR INDIVIDUAL COMRADES 2023-2024

Updated 7/7/2023

 

Fillible Auxiliary Report Form for VFW Community Service - On line fallible form.
For use by the Auxiliary to document Community Service that can be reported to the VFW.  Post Community Service Chairman use this information to update your post Community Service report. 

Updated 9/1/23 

 
 

Post Commanders: Your post's designee for Community Service reporting should be looking for this completed form each month and then input Auxiliary data through our report system.  In addition to this monthly report, Auxiliaries will continue to report their activities through their channels.

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Comrades, please use the information below to help correlate information you get from the Auxiliary to the proper categories.   
 
Download the Community Service Guidelines. 
 

WHAT IS COMMUNITY SERVICE

Community Service, as defined by the National Community Service Trust Act, encompasses "any human act serving the common good; in the interest of the community”. Elsewhere, community service is further defined as " a service that is performed for the benefit of the public or its institutions”.

The VFW subscribes to the above, but adds that for the purpose of volunteer recognition, VFW Community Service must be performed by and as a representative of the VFW for an organization outside of the VFW and its Auxiliaries and must be verified by an authorized representative of that organization.

As it is the intent of VFW community service to impact a broad spectrum of the local community, credit will only be given for a maximum of 1,000 hours to any single organization within a 12-month period.

In addition, efforts performed for the benefit of the Post or Auxiliary should NOT be considered community service.   Examples would be maintenance, upkeep or beautification of the Post home, cooking or serving a meal for a Post fundraiser, or working on bingo night.   Additionally, efforts that are part of the normal requirements of a Post or Auxiliary would not be considered community service.  Examples of this would be providing an honor guard for a member’s funeral, flying the American flag, and conducting Flag retirement programs (unless this is performed for the entire community).


Here are just a few examples of valid community service activities:

-hosting a welcome home party for a military unit at the Post and providing a free meal to those attendees.

-driving a fellow veteran to the local VA facility.

-building a handicap ramp for a veteran

-delivering meals to a shut in

-hosting a Quilts of Valor ceremony and providing meals to veterans and family attendees

-serving on a town committee to help plan Memorial and/or Independence Day activities

-Placing flags on graves for Memorial Day

 

WHAT IS NOT COMMUNITY SERVICE

A particularly controversial area in VFW community service is service to one’s church.  Generally, these efforts are NOT considered community service for two reasons: 1) they are not performed for the community at large, and 2) they are part of an individual’s service to their faith and not to the VFW.  The exception to this would be performing the same service for all the churches, etc. in a given community.

Examples of reports that cannot be approved:

●       Passing out Buddy Poppies

●       Hours working on a fundraiser

●       Serving meals at the Post to members or guests when there is a charge for those meals

●       Flying the flag at home and at the Post

●       Mowing the lawn at the Post

●       Putting on a breakfast for Post members.

●       Providing Post facilities for a pool tournament


WHY REPORTING IS IMPORTANT

At the end of each reporting year, VFW national reports the number of hours and the monetary value of all of our donated time and money to Congress.  These total numbers demonstrate the importance of the VFW to our government, the savings we provide to the government and the Veterans Administration, and why we should continue to maintain our tax-exempt status.

 

WHY REPORTS MUST BE "HONEST AND ACCURATE”

The VFW is always susceptible to an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.  Reports that are inflated or are not within report guidelines can jeopardize our tax-exempt status.

 

WHAT TO DO AT POST LEVEL

Every Post should have a Community Service (CS) chairman who will be the only comrade designated to complete the Post’s CS reports via the vfwsc.org website.  Log in at "Members Only” and enter your Member ID number and Password, then just click on "Program Reporting” and the blank report form will be there for you to complete.  PLEASE PROVIDE A GOOD DESCRIPTION OF EACH ACTIVITY AND EXPLAIN HOW IT MEETS THE CATEGORY THAT YOU HAVE SELECTED.  The categories are explained on the website just above the Program Reporting link.

Keep Individual Community Service Report forms on hand at your Post for your members to complete and leave for your Post Community Service chairman.  Some posts maintain a binder with blank forms for comrades to take home and complete.  Some posts put the Community Service Report Form for Individual Comrades on their post web site.  Comrades can then download their report forms directly from the website, complete the report form, and send it electronically or physically return the report to the Post for the chairman to review.

The chairman should consolidate reports at the Post level. He/she should also gather reports from your Post’s Auxiliary President and report Auxiliary hours, miles, money along with the Post’s reports on the VFWSC.org website.

Chairmen should try to send reports in AS THEY OCCUR or, at least, on a monthly basis.


WHAT NOT TO DO

Do not "double report”.  Don’t report the same activity under more than one category and claim the dollars, miles, comrades and hours again and again.

Example:  your Post marches in the local parade (which would be Americanism) and invites the local Scout organization to participate (which would be Youth Activities).  You had 10 comrades march in the parade and the parade lasted three hours.  Report 30 hours, 10 members, and the mileage for each of the 10 comrades under Americanism.  Send a different report for the Youth Activity but DO NOT INCLUDE HOURS, COMRADES, MONEY, MILEAGE etc. again.  That would be double reporting if you claimed those hours again under a different category.!

 

SAFETY REPORTS

Every Post should make Safety an agenda item at each meeting. Make sure you report it!  If the safety briefing took 3 minutes, just Multiply 3 minutes times 20 comrades attending to get 1 hour. Enter 1 in the report. If it took 4 minutes, 4 times 20 equals 80 minutes. Change to a decimal and enter 1.33 hours.

 

Categories of Community Service for Reporting:

●       COMMUNITY SERVICE includes any activities within your community which help to benefit the community, school, parks, recycling, neighborhood cleanings, etc.

●       AID TO OTHERS is self-explanatory.  Taking a hot meal to a veteran who can't get out is an example.

●       AMERICANISM/CITIZEN EDUCATION is simply taking the time to teach someone about flag etiquette, the Constitution, military service, etc.

●       YOUTH PROGRAMS include the annual Voice of Democracy, Patriot's Pen, Scout of the Year Program, etc.

●       YOUTH ACTIVITIES - Posts and Auxiliaries are encouraged to provide youth programs within the community such as Athletics, Scouting, Contests, Education, Recognition, etc.

●       SAFETY - Pedestrian, Drug Awareness, Recreational, Highway, Home/Fire, etc

●       MILITARY SERVICE - Any support given to a unit, an individual family member, ceremonies, welcome home, uplink, Unmet Needs, USO, etc.

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE & AID TO OTHERS - (Post activities within your community which help to benefit the community, school, parks, recycling, neighborhood cleanings, etc.)


AMERICANISM/CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION - (The VFW in action teaching and leading in the community. Example: Representing the VFW at a school assembly, veterans in the classroom, taking the time to teach someone about flag etiquette, the Constitution, military service, etc.)

YOUTH PROGRAMS - (i.e., Patriot's Pen, VOD,) YOUTH ACTIVITIES: (i.e., Boy Scouts, JROTC, etc.)

SAFETY - (Examples include driving safety practices, drug awareness, health reminders (heart health, heat injuries, actions to take during pandemics) recreational safety, hunting, home and fire safety etc.)

VETERANS & MILITARY SUPPORT - (support to a military unit, Unmet Needs, USO, etc.) Tell us about all of your troop support events not funded by VFW National. Please include yellow ribbon events, homeless stand downs, District/Post meetings where Veterans & Military Support Programs were discussed or any other events held in support of our service members, veterans and their families.
Please include attendance numbers for each event. This information will be provided to the National and State VETERANS AND MILITARY SUPPORT CHAIRMAN FOR HIS MONTHLY REPORT.

LEGISLATIVE REPORT - (This box will be reviewed and verified by the State Legislative Chairman upon receipt of Congressional correspondence from your Post.)
 

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 Annual Community Service Award Deadlines:

 *April 30, Post Special Project & Fred C. Hall Award Submission (Department to National)

 *April 30, National Outstanding Community Service Post Submission(s) (Department to National)

 

 In addition to the Department’s award criteria, the attached Manual has all of the Award Criteria and forms for these Community Service related programs.

 

 Community and Citizenship Manual

 

 

Questions? If you need any help or guidance, please contact the Department Chairman, Nick Camera, at ncamera1@gmail.com

    
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National Outstanding Community Service Post

On the Department's dashboard are the report totals for each post for Community Service, Americanism, Legislative, Youth Activities, Safety, & Veterans and Military Support.
 
Everyone can also see the Total Hours, Members Total, and Money Total for each post.

  • First Criteria:  The Outstanding Post MUST HAVE AT LEAST one report in EACH of the six Community Service Categories listed above.

  • Second Criteria:  Post MUST BE NOMINATED by it's District Commander no later than 23 April.  (This way, the Chain of Command is involved in the selection process and this criteria will narrow the selections down to 8 Posts for further consideration. It will also give us time to analyze the data for each of the nominations and select the winner.)

  • Third Criteria:  Of the 8 Posts nominated by their District Commanders, the Department Commander will select the most Outstanding Community Service Post based on the following totals as recorded on the website AS OF 23 APRIL OF EACH YEAR  ( 1 week before the deadline to National) . 
 
 
How award is selected by the Department Commander. 

A.  Total Hours given in service to the Community is probably the most important selection criteria.

B.  Members Total % of Post population.  Take the total number of MEMBERS reported in all Community Service reports divided by the total number of members in that Post.  (This criteria will demonstrate how well the Post Commander is able to motivate comrades to serve their community).  

C.  Total Amount of Dollars Raised/Donated as of 23 April of each year.