June 1, 2013
10:00am – 4:00pm
St. Clement and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church 165 Hanover Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702

Please click here for a downloadable flyer.

Many thanks to GFWC Plymouth for supporting our mission. We hope to see you at the event!

The Symposium will be informative, morale building and fun!  It will feature exciting, dynamic and important guest speakers as well as breakout sessions on a variety of topics of particular interest to women veterans.  The event will kickoff with a welcome reception at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 8.  General sessions and breakout sessions will be held on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday morning, March 10.  The event will conclude by 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Women who qualify (this includes women currently serving) to attend need only pay a $10 registration fee to attend (lodging and meals are provided). Special rates for guests are available. For more information and to register please visit http://www.pawomenvets.org.

Companies, nonprofits and other agencies who wish to reach out to women veterans are encouraged to register as a vendor or exhibitor.

Sponsorship opportunities are also available!

Whether it’s PTSD, illness due to exposure to Agent Orange, accidents in the line of duty, catastrophic illness, social security checks not stretching far enough, delayed disability ratings reviews because of a huge VA backlog,  - these men and women and their families, sometimes very small children, are impacted in terribly sad ways.

Typically by the time these individuals come to our attention for assistance, it’s very late in the game, because they were warriors, because they were always used to helping others – they are proud and rightfully so, but it gets in the way of asking for help, until the situation spirals so far out of control the alternative is homelessness… They are often severely depressed, they feel despair and hopelessness, they feel devalued, they cry with and without tears at the lives they never imagined living like this.

We have a very small emergency fund we would like to grow with the help of community support to help veterans in need this winter. As an organization, we are incredibly fortunate to have dedicated veterans as volunteer leaders and community partners that help us to keep our organizational expenses to an absolute minimum. This allows us to redistribute nearly 100% of donations to veterans in need.

We know there are many very worthy nonprofits competing for your charitable contributions and we know prices of things have gone up, raises are few and far between and the economy isn’t where any of us would like it to be yet.  We know the holidays are approaching and you probably have gifts to buy for loved ones and parties to plan. Yet still, as advocates for our brothers and sisters, we must ask you to help those who put their lives on the line for all of us, in their time in need.

Please consider making a contribution today, and know that any amount you feel comfortable authorizing will help a veteran who may not receive help at all without your support.

You can mail a check to NEPA VMA, 31 W. Market St. Wilkes-Barre, PA, 18701. Please add in the memo portion of the check “Winter 2012 Giving” if you wish, so we know how to earmark your generosity.

You can also send us an electronic contribution via our convenient easy to use secure PayPal account:

A Salute to Veterans Veterans Services Fair
Gino Merli Veterans Center 401 Penn Avenue Scranton, PA
FRIDAY November 9, 2012
9am – 3pm
Opening ceremony at 9am
Presentations and workshops from 10am-3pm
(There will also be a Veterans Day program at 2pm)

Career information, Medical Services, Social Services, and MORE!
Presenting Sponsors will include:
Gino Merli Veterans Center
Senator Blake’s Office
Senator Baker’s Office
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation
Adjutant General’s Office, Harrisburg
Tobyhanna Army Depot
PA CareerLink Lackawanna County
Catholic Social Services

The purpose of the event is to gather personal and business bloggers, tech professionals, marketing professionals, corporate communications professionals, PR/Marketing professionals, and members of the community together to learn about storytelling through new media while sharing their ideas. Anyone who is responsible for communicating their company’s message or is interested in blogging and social media for personal reasons, should attend.

Of course, we’ll be there too – 50% of the proceeds will benefit the work we do in the community to assist veterans and their families. We are very thankful to organizers of the event for helping us out at a time when we have a critical need for additional funding! The other 50% of the proceeds will benefit The Arc of Luzerne County, who for many years has served the needs of our Luzerne County citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities through advocacy and programs. We couldn’t be more proud to be at their side honored together by this conference.

Many veterans are business owners and might know that blogging and other social media are excellent ways to market their services and products. Other veterans know that self expression through writing, photography and art are excellent ways to come to terms with what’s inside and that social media and blogging can bring people with things in common together in online communities. Family members too!

• Learn all about how to manage your online reputation, create a virtual home for yourself, your cause or brand and learn how to promote it.
• Join others who are passionate about the Internet.
• Become Internet savvy and get your questions answered!
• Learn how to tell  your story to the world through multi-media.

Our good friends, the Fearsome Foursome, have provided us with a nonprofit discount code for 20% off the already low regular conference price of $45 (thanks to many fine event sponsors) through midnight September 10.

Just register here and enter ‘goodwork’ in the discount code field.

We’ll see you there!

This 4 course certificate program was created to address the needs of the student veteran who is resourceful, hardworking and self-motivated.  It is designed to combine the skill sets, previous study and life experience of the student veteran along with knowledge provided in this concentrated program.

The student will receive instruction in Accounting, the first skill needed to sustain a business and thrive in the market. The other concentration is the area of Entrepreneurship. Business Plans, start-up resourcing and marketing are just some of the steps that will be learned to help take you from concept to reality.

The program begins  August 27^th 2012  and runs through May 10^th 2013. It is four courses over two semesters for a total of 30 weeks, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information, contact Lackawanna College – New Milford Center | 570.465.2344

It’s one hot day out but it isn’t stifling our volunteers, Project Manager Karl Kaminski and Airmen from the USAF 314th Recruiting Sq. – who returned today for their 3rd day of volunteerism. Today’s work was to continue to prep the house by taking out everything that needs to go – sinks, toilet, irreparable gas furnace, plaster and lathe from many of the walls, old metal kitchen cabinets, etc. According to Karl, one more day like this and we will be ready to start renovation.

We were delighted to have WBRE-TV28 News Photojournalist Tim Haberski out with a camera catching the demolition and learning about the organization and project. We can’t wait until the evening news to see.. hopefully the story will appeal to the hearts and minds of of area businesses and contractors, all of whom would be so welcome as community partners.

UPDATE: video here on PA Homepage.

We are really focused on a new roof, new gas furnace and getting the plumbing working. It means we need shingles, a new gas furnace and an electrician and a plumber. Maybe you have ideas for material donations? A couple of contractors were out looking at the home with Sam yesterday and they will offer much needed volunteer labor. We are grateful.

Laura, the wife of an Iraq veteran, was out today – looking at the yard. She has  volunteered to be in charge of our memorial garden. We found a great spot for it. Flowers, a park bench and flagpole will add so much and be a nice place to sit and reflect. We are selling engraved bricks for the garden and hope you’ll want one.

Alex and Karla sent out about 80 letters asking for $100 contributions to area veterans service organizations last week. We hope to see positive responses in the mailbox soon. Karel and Karla have an appointment with a fine local establishment for a fundraiser – something about celebrity bartending! We’ll keep you up to date and hope to see you there.

P.S. Don’t forget August 12 – Harvey’s Lake Homecoming Relay Motorcycle Ride to benefit NEPA VMA!