For the second year local VFW Post # 10046 in Soldotna celebrated the 12 days of Christmas as a way make the season bright for local families. VFW senior vice commander Anne Toutant to the Dispatch, “This is a fund raiser for our local vets and their families that was created by Dorothy Gould, one of greatest supporters who donates her time and energy to help out our local vets. So the way it works is local businesses and companies donate items that we auction off twelve days before Christmas and each day one is auctioned off. Also this year we decorated five Christmas trees that were donated to the VFW and we decorated them and had a contest for the best tree. Vets paid a $20 entry fee and the winning team won the $100 and the trees were delivered by vets to families that would not have had a tree of their own. The local U-Haul even donated a truck for us to deliver the decorated trees with and we had help from the Salvation Army to find the families in need. This is a generous community but most folks who give rarely get to see the smiles of appreciation on families that receive the benefits of their giving and I just want to tell you it’s fabulous and gave the vets an opportunity to learn more about the needs that these families have and how we may be able to help,” said Toutant.

The men and women who have served their country in foreign wars and conflicts, members of the VFW are proud to continue to serve the communities they have chosen to be their homes and when asked if they could use some help, Toutant replied, “We can use help every day, in fact I want to give a special thank you shout out to Art at Midway Auto for donating the van for our vets to be able to drive safely and arrive safely on New Year’s Eve and thanks to the Marines we were able to donate $500 to the local Toys for Tots campaign and with the help of an additional discount from Fred Myers that money went a lot further make kids happy this year. So anyone who would like to help with our community activities any time of the year just contact us at the VFW Post 10046 in Soldotna,” she said. The VFW is currently raising funds for a bronze Veterans Memorial Statue, known as “Iron Mike” to be set this summer at Soldotna Creek Park as a reminder of the men and women who have served in the military, “We can’t forget the people who made our country free today and will keep it free from tyranny tomorrow and not just at Christmas time or Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day, but every day,” said Toutant.