AUSA Monmouth Chapter President's Message, Chapter Accomplishments (Jul - Dec 2024)

AUSA Monmouth Chapter President's Message, Chapter Accomplishments (Jul - Dec 2024)

Fort Monmouth Banner, large

                                                                                                                                         January 14, 2025

To All Monmouth Chapter Members, Community Partners, Sponsors and Friends,


Happy New Year and warmest greetings from your AUSA Monmouth Chapter Board of Directors! I'm writing you today to report on our Chapter's accomplishments during the first half of our 2024-2025 Operating Year (July thru December 2024) and to invite you to get involved in our upcoming events as we head into the second half of our Operating Year (January thru June 2025).


I'm pleased to report that we had a productive 6 months providing support to Soldiers, Veterans of all Military Services, and family members in the greater Monmouth/Jersey Shore region.


In August, we supported the 254th New Jersey National Guard Training Regiment in Sea Girt by participating in the graduation ceremony for their Officer Candidate School Class 67. We were honored to present a special AUSA Leadership Award to Officer Candidate Dario Colombo in recognition of his outstanding performance as a candidate.


We had a busy September. As part of our mission to inform the local community, on September 4th, I provided an informational briefing to the Fort Monmouth Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, explaining the benefits of AUSA membership and offering our Chapter's assistance in any way possible. Then on September 6th, I provided an Army Overview presentation titled "Army 101" to the Monmouth Regional Chamber of Commerce and also discussed our Chapter's many upcoming initiatives.

We closed out the first quarter supporting our Veterans by participating in the annual New Jersey Run for the Fallen. During the last week of September, a cadre of troops ran from Cape May to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel, stopping many times along the way at predesignated Hero Markers, each honoring a New Jersey fallen hero. Our Chapter presented a specially made "Honor and Remember" Flag to the Gold Star family of MSG Octavio Montalvo, during a brief ceremony in Lincroft. We also presented an "Honor and Remember" flag to the family of Col (Retired) Sam Fuoco, former President of the AUSA Monmouth Chapter, at a brief ceremony at the Fort Monmouth Flagpole.

In October, I and several board members attended the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington DC. Our chapter was honored during the AUSA First Region Breakfast Meeting with nineteen award streamers, in recognition of our outstanding efforts in nineteen different key areas of support to Soldiers, Veterans, family members, and community organizations! Bravo!!! Later in October, we held a successful Pancake Breakfast fund raiser where we raised over $3,000 to support our Service Dog Initiative. We're excited to report that we recently placed a service dog with a special needs family member of a local area Veteran. And we have two puppies currently in training and waiting to be paired with a special needs Veteran or family member, hopefully in the near future. Also in October, we partnered with the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 12 to provide a terrific Informational Briefing and Memorabilia Display regarding the Vietnam War to a senior citizens group in Ocean Township.


On November 7th , in partnership with the Eatontown Industrial Park Association, we held our annual Veterans Day Luncheon at the Sheraton Hotel in Eatontown. Each year we especially recognize a specific group of Veterans. This year we honored 10 local purple heart recipients. Each of these 10 heroes received a personal thank you letter from NJ Governor Philip Murphy, a Proclamation from the NJ State Legislature, a Certificate of Recognition from the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners, and a hand-made "Quilt of Valor" from the Quilts of Valor Foundation. It was a wonderful day!

We closed out the year with our signature event, the annual Gingerbread Ball Charity Gala, which was held Saturday evening, December 7th, at the beautiful Branches Event Center in West Long Branch. 175 guests enjoyed a wonderful dinner, music provided by the outstanding Jazz Lobsters, an exciting silent auction, and a terrific presentation by Ms Stephany Bonney, Director of Community Fundraising of the Fisher House Foundation. All proceeds from the evening (approximately $30,000) will support the Fisher House Foundation's critical mission of building comfort homes near Military and VA Medical Centers where Military & Veteran families can stay free of charge at a “home away from home”, while a loved one is in the hospital. Thank you to all our volunteers who worked so hard planning and executing this event. And thank you to all our sponsors and guests. We couldn't do it without you.

Well, 2025 is now here. And we're gearing up for some exciting events and programs in the next six months. First of all, we are naming 2025 as "The Year of the Service Dog". We will be laser focused this year on identifying local special needs Veterans or family members and getting them paired as soon as possible with the two service dog puppies that are currently in training. We need to raise $30-$40K this year to implement those two pairings and replenish the kitty to support future pairings. Our first Service Dog Fundraiser of the year will be in February at Applebee's Restaurant in Tinton Falls, date to be determined. In May, we will hold our annual Golf Outing with proceeds also going to our Service Dog Initiative. In June we will celebrate the Army's 250th Birthday with a special dinner where we will present our annual Junior ROTC Scholarship awards to local graduating high school seniors who have been enrolled in their school's JROTC program. This is always a great evening!


Other events and programs are under development. We can use the help of all of our members, community partners, friends, and sponsors in the planning and execution of these upcoming endeavors. As always, we want to do our best to support our Soldiers, Veterans of all Military Services, and family members in our local area. We can't do it without your help, so please consider getting involved! Feel free to call me or write to me to learn more.

 

Best Regards,

Ed Thomas
President
Association of the US Army {AUSA) Monmouth Chapter
732-829-1460 (Cell)
ect0203@gmail.com