| Inception |
East Palo Alto Unit #472 begins as an
idea of the Girls State Counseling Staff
of 2005. Many of these women are former
Girls State Citizens and act as counselors
for the program. They find the work accomplished
by the American Legion Auxiliary to be
compelling, especially this particular
program of citizenship training on the
processes of city and state government.
They
want to do more for the program and for
the ALA by supporting an alumnae association,
seeking funding, and having input into
the groundwork necessary to provide the
annual Girls State to approximately 540
young women from California high schools.
As members of the ALA, they know they
can accomplish these goals and participate
in all the programs of this organization
they respect. |
| Preparation |
During the summer months, Past Department
President Linda Workman approaches East
Palo Alto Post #472, District 26, about
sponsoring the new e-unit. She carefully
explains the concept and successfully
receives the Post's support. On August
15, 2005, Commander Carlo Flores assists
by forwarding a letter to the ALA Department
Headquarters requesting the necessary
paperwork to begin the charter process.
On
Tuesday, November 15, 2005, Kerry Finley,
a long-time counselor and former Girls
State Citizen, emails to about 140 women
who have an interest in the American Legion
Auxiliary. She announces the history-making
formation of a new American Legion Auxiliary
Unit which will operate electronically.
This e-unit will have the required nine
meetings each year, but will do so by
teleconferencing, e-mail, and fax. It
plans to meet twice each year in a physical
location :: once, in April for elections
of officers and delegates and again, during
the Girls State Session for installation.
The volunteer work the members do in their
own communities, and especially in East
Palo Alto, will benefit the ALA programs.
During
the final weeks of November, President
Kerry works closely with Past Department
President Linda Workman and Past Department
Secretary/Treasurer Lou Thompson. They
establish the means by which potential
members are able to obtain the application
and transferring members, the Member Data
Form. To conform with the electronic concept,
both forms and all instructions are published
to the new Web site. As a major component
of the new Unit's communications, the
site includes pages for all officers and
chairmen, programs, business, links to
other vital sites such as the National
and Department Headquarters, and membership.
The
new concept is shared with friends and
family members. Within two weeks, the
Unit has more than the minimum number
of ten new members and the charter application
work starts.
The
first ballot process of the Unit begins
on Monday, December 5, 2005. Published
to the Web site is a balloting page which
includes the ballot measure title and
link to the document, a description about
how the process will occur and the ballot,
a Submit form. Acting President Kerry
emails to all the members on record informing
them of the issue on the floor. They are
sent to the balloting page on the Web
site. This first vote is to accept the
Temporary Bylaws of the newly forming
Unit. The final result of this first ballot
is approval with 13 of 13 Senior members
voting.
The
Acting President appoints as Acting Secretary/Treasurer,
Sherry Schneider. She also begins appointing
members to the various program chairmanships
while continuing to accept charter membership
which remains open through Thursday, December
15, 2005. |
