Last year the VFW won the male and female Volunteer of the Year Awards. The male VFW winner was Mr. William Talcott from VFW Post 9400 who volunteers at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in the state of Arizona. The female VFW Auxiliary winner was Ms. Mariann Hamann who volunteers in the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System in the state of Michigan. Congratulations to William and Mariann!

It is time again to submit nominations to the VFW for the VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) Volunteer of the Year.  This Award Program permits the VAVS National Advisory Committee (NAC) to honor members who have given extraordinary service to our nation’s veterans.

The Executive Committee (EC) of the NAC coordinates this program and works closely with the NAC and a selection committee established for reviewing nominations.

Nominees for this award must participate in established VAVS assignments, serve as a Regularly Scheduled (RS) Volunteer and meet one of the following criteria:

• Volunteer with hospitalized Veterans
• Volunteer with Veterans at Outpatient Clinics
• Volunteer with Veterans in Community Living Centers
• Volunteer with homeless Veterans
• Volunteer with Veterans and Veterans groups in the community
• Host Veterans functions in the Lodge, Post, Chapter, i.e., Memorial Day, July 4^th and Veterans Day observances, etc. that qualify as a VAVS assignment
• Host Veterans functions outside the Lodge, Post, Chapter, i.e., fishing trips, day at the races, sporting events, etc. that qualify as a VAVS assignment
• Visit Veterans confined to their homes as a VAVS assignment
• Adopt-A-Veteran

Volunteers eligible for the award are NAC member organizations like the VFW with an emphasis on VAVS Representatives, Deputy Representatives, members who visit the VA Medical Centers, Community Living Centers, etc., or work at Post veteran functions either within or outside the Post.  Nominees must participate in established VAVS assignments and serve as an RS volunteer. 

There will be two recipients (1 male and 1 female) per year.

All nominations must be submitted in narrative format with nominee’s name in the upper left-hand corner.  The narrative is not to exceed 500 words and must be submitted to VFW National Veterans Service no later than December 2, 2019.  Letters of recommendation may be submitted with the narrative.  VA Staff making recommendations for this award must send the nomination to the National Representative of the organizations to which the nominee is a member for preliminary judging – meaning they must submit their recommendations to the VFW following the guidelines included in this letter. Failure to do so will invalidate the nomination. The "NAC Volunteer of the Year Award Nomination Support Form” attached needs to be submitted along with the narrative as a package.

Winners and awardees selected by the NAC will be presented with an inscribed plaque at the annual meeting of the Committee, with additional recognition by the VFW for our selected exemplary volunteers.

Please disseminate this information to your VFW VAVS Representatives and encourage them to submit their nominees to your Department Headquarters for consideration by the VFW National Veterans Service.

Should you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at rgallucci@vfw.org or by phone (202) 608-8341, or contact James W. Moss, National VAVS Representative at jmoss@vfw.org or (202) 608-8371. All submissions should be sent to James W. Moss, VFW National Representative at 200 Maryland Avenue, NE, Washington, DC  20002 or email at jmoss@vfw.org.