Editor:

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10789 and the Ladies Auxiliary (Brentwood) would like to thank everyone who has participated this year in our poppy drive, pancake breakfasts and community events.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10789 is made up of men and women veterans from World War II to the present who have served in combat areas overseas. We continue our service to all our military veterans still serving and to our community, which includes Brentwood, Oakley, Knightsen, Bethel Island, Byron and Discovery Bay.

This year we have donated to local veterans in need. This money goes to prior veterans and veterans returning from zones of conflict needing help prior to receiving any government benefits they earn and deserve. It also helps family members of veterans who are deployed to help pay for bills.

This money comes from your donations to our poppy drive. This money is used to support veterans in need in the local community, and this last year alone we provided over $3,500 in relief to local veterans in need.

We hold our Firefighter of the Year awards dinner every October, and this year we honored two local firefighters for the VFW Firefighter of the Year award.

We hold our Voice of Democracy award dinner every December for local high school students in support of the VFW’s national Voice of Democracy speech-writing competition, promoting patriotism and civic awareness to our community’s youth. We awarded $600 in prize money to three students.

We donated $500 this year to Operation Creekside for postage to help mail packages to the troops overseas. We donated $500 to the Brentwood Police Activities League for their annual Christmas Shop with a Cop program.

We recognize our veterans at Veterans Park in Brentwood on Veterans Day. We recognize our community’s departed heroes at our annual Memorial Day observance at Union Cemetery.

It is your community contributions and tax-deductable donations and participation that have allowed us to do these programs this year.

Thank you for your support.

Steve Todd, Commander, VFW Post 10789