Showing support for our local veterans
The Teamster Horsemen Motorcycle Association Chapter 53 North will host its first annual ride to benefit local veterans on July 20, 2013 at Tri-Boro Sportsmen Club, 21st and Canal Streets, Northampton, PA. (more…)
When 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 
its 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…)
Until June 2014, the Sigal Museum — Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society’s flagship facility and headquarters — 
is 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…)
Five Guys (Burgers) will be holding the fundraiser from 24 to 26 June for a new local organization, Support No Stigma. If interested in supporting this organization, all you have to do eat at one of the three locations in Read more…
“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…)
Editor’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.
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. 
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…)
No, 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…)
Adalberto Morales, one of two Suicide Prevention Coordinators at Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center (VAMC), gave an outstanding talk to the Council at its 15 May business meeting. His sole purpose is to help those contemplating suicide to get to needed help, no matter where – within the VA system or within the community. Together with Denise Carey, they operate 24/7 and are busy.
Morales affirmed suicide has become a serious problem for veterans and it is a problem for more than those who have more recently served, the focus of most media articles. He has witnessed an increase among Vietnam era veterans as they retire also. As a result, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates since 2010, a suicide occurs every 11 to 15 minutes (or about 105 suicides daily). Consequently, suicide has risen from the fifteenth to the tenth leading cause of death in the United States.
Making matters worse, the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania are already known for their high suicide rates in their populations. The Wilkes-Barre VAMC has 35 active cases currently being closely monitored, but over the last year, there have been six ‘completions’ and more than 60 “serious attempts” at suicide have occurred – “ideations” being in the hundreds. Therefore, the Wilkes-Barre VAMC Coordinators alternate to provide a 24/7 service, the only ones in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system to do so other than those in the national Crisis Call Center. (more…)
Want to start your own business? Tired of working for someone else? Unemployed or underemployed and want to change your life? You’re not alone. Nearly 40% of returning current conflict veterans have expressed a desire to work for themselves.
Can you afford to spare one night a week for ten weeks (more…)
Memorial Day should be more than a picnic holiday
and a sales day. It is intended to be a day when we remember those who fought and died for us and our way of life, and to rededicate ourselves to good purposes to ensure their sacrifice was not wasted. In an effort to remind our citizenry, adults and youth, of what it sometimes required of us to be Americans, a National Moment of Remembrance was added to the day in 2000. (more…)