VFW needs ?serious help? for ?financial turmoil?

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Canteen Board is hosting a town hall meeting Sunday to gather ideas on ways to rescue the local VFW Post.

?We?re in financial turmoil,? canteen board president Amanda Northup said. ?We need some serious help.?

Northup returned from deployment in March with several ideas on how make the VFW prosperous again. But after exhausting her ideas, Northup said it?s time to ?let the people tell us what they want.?

Flyers have been sent to members of the VFW Post, VFW Ladies Auxiliary, VFW Men?s Auxiliary, VFW Social, AmVets, American Legion and American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, inviting them to attend the 3 p.m. meeting. Northup said the canteen board will be looking for ideas on how to keep the canteen open, how to keep people going to the canteen and how to get younger veterans to join.

Northup is hoping for a good turnout to help decide whether the canteen will be able to stay open or whether it will close.

?I encourage as many people from all the organizations in the building to come to try to save the VFW,? she said.

Northup believes Iowa?s new smoking legislation has been a factor in pushing the VFW to this point. She explained a lot of the older veterans smoke and aren?t interested in visiting the canteen if they can?t have a drink and a cigarette.

For the complete article, see the Wednesday, July 8, 2009, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.