Charter, Baseball, Girl Scouts: 3 Belleville American Legion Updates

BELLEVILLE, NJ — The Post 105 American Legion family in Belleville recently announced several milestones and initiatives in town, including the successful pursuit of a new charter from the national organization.

The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 105 received its charter earlier this year, which allows spouses, daughters, granddaughters, mothers and grandmothers to join the American Legion umbrella (see above photo).

The unit has been pursuing a charter through a process that has been on-and-off since the pandemic in 2020. After the new year, its members kicked their mission into high gear, getting some key assistance from members of the Sons of the American Legion (SAL) Squadron 105 in Belleville, as well as from members of the state-level ALA.

Their efforts paid off with the official charter signing in late February, celebrated at an emotion-laden meeting.

The unit counted 29 members on its initial roster. Two of those members are juniors: members who are under 18-years-old. And the word is spreading, the organization says; since their celebratory meeting, the new auxiliary has gained several new members.

“We finally got it done, and I’m proud of the ladies who got this going – it has been a lot of hard work,” Department President Colleen Breen-Lopez said. “You have one of the best support systems here … one of the best Sons [SAL’s] up here … and this post is going to be one of the biggest posts in the state.”

BASEBALL OPENING DAY

The Post 105 American Legion Family, which consists of the American Legion’s veterans, the Sons of the American Legion (SAL), and the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA), recently took part in Belleville’s Baseball Opening Day ceremonies by providing a colorguard and leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

Local Legion members had an opportunity to take a picture with the traveling baseball team they sponsor: the Belleville Junior Bucs.

The post also had a chance to speak to the public about the American Legion’s “Be The One” initiative, which helps to combat the epidemic of veterans suicide. According to a news release from the Belleville legion:

“‘22 A Day’ was the 2022 American Legion program which brought to light veterans’ suicide and the on-average 22 vets a day who end their life. The program has since been rebranded ‘Be The One’ – focused on eliminating the stigma related to mental health treatment, and in turn, lower the number of veterans who die by suicide every day. The American Legion has elevated ‘Be the One’ to be its top priority, empowering veterans, service members, their family members and civilians to act appropriately when a veteran may be at risk.”

COOKIES FOR VETERANS

Girl Scouts from Troops 20122, 20052 and 20462, as well as young Sons, SAL members from Squadron 105 of Belleville, and members from the Detachment Children and Youth Commission, recently paid a visit to VA campuses in East Orange and Lyons.

Their goal? To bring about $2,200 worth of their namesake cookies to satisfy the sweet tooth of veterans staying both short and long-term at the VA hospitals.

The “Cookies for Vets” project, being run for a second year, is part of the Sons of the American Legion’s commitment to two of its core pillars – Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation, and Children and Youth. The Detachment of New Jersey, which is the state-level element of the SAL organization, began raising money in December for the project.

“Last year’s inaugural program raised $1,000 … we did over twice that this year,” noted Children and Youth Chairman Rusty Myers, who helped to organize the event.

“That is amazing, in that all of this has come from individual donations, and from our American Legion family posts, squadrons, units, and county organizations from throughout the state,” Myers said. “That comes down to around 420 boxes for our vets!”

One of the East Orange staff members present to help receive the delivery was Vietnam veteran Earl “Slim” Ayler, who flew in helicopters with the U.S. Army in Southeast Asia. In a moment which was emotional for everyone present, “Slim” spoke to the girls about being shot down overseas and being missing for a few days before his rescue. He also did the Children and Youth Commission the honor of presenting each Girl Scout with a “Cookies for Vets” patch, to put on their uniform sashes thanking them for their participation.

“It made me feel like I was doing something to make the veterans feel happy – to let them know there are people out there that care about them and want to help them,” said Lilianna Giannone from Girl Scout Troop 20122, who helped deliver the cookies.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Belleville-Nutley Facebook page.