The American Legion Auxiliary’s mission and our core activities are consistent from year to year. However, we exist to meet the needs of our veteran and military population and those needs do change a bit from year to year depending on circumstances. 
 
To continue the ALA’s meaningful impact into our next century of service, it is vital that we carry our accomplishments across administrations, rather than starting fresh each year. When the 5-year action plan was written in early 2017, it was to provide some continuity for planning, but parts of it no longer are relevant today.
 
Therefore, going forward, the national president’s focus each year will be conveyed through the national chairmen, national committee members, and department presidents rather than through a document called the action plan. Program resources are available in the MyAuxiliary members only section at www.ALAforVeterans.org. Through our national and state leaders, ALA members will look for ways to carry out the mission using whatever local resources are most available. 
 
Each year, the national president emphasizes a particular aspect of the ALA’s mission that is timely, to keep us engaged in relevant activities. More information about this will be available on the National President page of website after convention.
 
More important than the document itself is the communication, encouragement, and information-sharing among members so that we continue to learn, improve, and build a sense of pride in our shared accomplishments. 
 
We encourage everyone to begin their planning by learning about the needs of those we serve in our neighborhoods, and work with ALA members and others who share our passion to meet those needs. Our donors and our neighbors evaluate our impact based on the behavior they observe, not by our words alone. 
 
The new format of the program resource pages is already in place at www.ALAforVeterans.org. Please sign in to MyAuxiliary and visit the appropriate page to access this information. 
 
To learn more about the ALA national program committees, request to join one of the many Facebook groups, which are moderated by national chairmen. Visit the respective program committee page or www.ALAforVeterans.org/social-media.