LVMAC

LVMAC Tidbit — Help Blue Star Mothers Chapter 201 Get Tee’d Off

BSM LV 12wksXmasOur busy Blue Star Mothers of the Lehigh Valley Chapter No 201, a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit member organization, is hosting its third charity golf event, “Teeing Off for the Troops Tournament”,  to raise funds to support its various endeavors, making a difference to the lives of military service members and veterans from the Greater Lehigh Valley. Its activities include shipping about 1500 care packages to deployed semiannually, sponsoring holiday parties for military families, assisting veterans having financial troubles, providing travel funds for the families of injured soldiers visiting their loved ones, conducting ‘welcome home’ events for returning troops; and visiting patients at VA hospitals. (more…)

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LVMAC Tidbit: PPL Wants to Work With the Council

Anthony Pearson, Founder and President of PPLVets, a “Business Resource Group” (BRG) of PPL Corporation, the local power and light company, spoke to the Council at its 19 June business meeting. He is Persian Gulf War (Gulf War I) Marine who served from 1989 through 1993.

Pearson explained PPL has had ten other minority and special group BRG’s since it began them about 13 to 14 years ago, but it had never had one for veterans until (more…)

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Forward Observer — Something Smart from the PA Dept. of Labor and Industry That Might Help Veterans

LVMAC Poster Art 2005When it comes to helping veterans find employment — having done away with its Governor’s Veterans Outreach and Assistance Centers (and using them properly before that) and having had problems with the staffing of JobGateway 2013its Veterans Employment Representative program — the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has not exactly been a frontrunner among state labor departments. But its JobGatewaySM  is a web product which comes as close to providing a one-stop employment shopping environment online as you can get, and has the potential to actually help our veterans community because it also tries to engage prospective employers providing good, wage paying jobs, registering those who pass muster.  (more…)

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LVMAC Tidbit — Days to Remember: A Year of Films

Until June 2014, the Sigal Museum — Northampton  County Historical and Genealogical Society’s flagship facility and headquarters — sigalmuseum11is presenting a series of films which document some of the significant events related to World War II.  A local company, Reda Productions, produced the films while working with the History Channel. This series is free and open to the public and will run continuously during museum hours. (more…)

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LVMAC Tidbit — A Lehigh Valley Museum Finally Gets To It: Vietnam Veterans, Will You?

LVHC Sunsetsm (Brightened)“American involvement in the Vietnam War (1955-1975) was one of the most tumultuous events in modern history. More than fifty years since the war began, Vietnam remains an emotional topic. The goal of this exhibit is to enlarge perspective for this unresolved era … The content will be visual, highly educational, and extremely patriotic. This is exhibit will open in early 2014,” states the exhibit synopsis from the Lehigh County Historical Society (LCHS). (more…)

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Forward Observer — Honey, The “In-Laws” Are Back! The Consumer Credit Association (Payday Lenders)

LVMAC Poster Art 2005Editor’s Note:  Kerry Smith, a Staff Attorney for Community Legal Services of Philadelphia was the speaker at our March Council Meeting.  Ms. Smith, at that time, explained the harm of such lending legislation and how other states which have passed such wish they could turn back the clock.  She urged the Council to stand up for our veterans and oppose any such legislation.

STAND WITH OUR MILITARY VETERANS: OPPOSE PAY DAY LENDING

Uninvolved Veterans, Get Off Your Derrieres and Protect Your Comrades

The Pennsylvania Council of Chapters, Military Officers Association of America, strongly opposes Senate Bill 975, the Micro Loan Program, recently introduced on May 31, 2013 to legalize payday lending in Pennsylvania at 300% interest on a two-week loan.  We agree with them.  The bill,  which will result in such usury despite possible good intentions, has surprisingly made it out of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee by a narrow 8 to 6 voting margin and is now on the floor of the Senate for a vote in a few more days.  PA MOAA Payday Ltr 2013 Revised

Since the possibility exists for our legislators to fail to take — or are not given — the time to completely read the bills they vote upon on a Senate or House floor (let alone reflect upon their possible unintended consequences), your timely action could make the difference in their decision-making. (more…)

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LVMAC Tidbit — Looking for a Few Good Women

HFHLV Women's Build 2013No, it is not Marine recruiting we’re talking about, but instead a Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley request for veterans as construction volunteers.

They seek about 10 to 20 women who are veterans or in the Guard and Reserves for a day’s worth of construction during its Women’s Blitz Build on St. James St. in Bethlehem expected to occur from August 13 through 24, this year. (more…)

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