Auxiliary’s Children and Youth Program
The purpose of the committee is to work collaboratively with The American Legion to promote programs that protect, care for, and support children and youth, especially those of our military and veterans.
The Children & Youth program emphasizes protecting, caring for, and supporting children and youth, particularly those of veterans’ and military families.
Key Program Statements
- The program emphasizes protecting, caring for, and supporting children and youth, particularly those of veterans’ and military families.
- To recognize and reward the positive actions of our children and youth, the American Legion Auxiliary has two special national awards bestowed to youth nominated by units: the Youth Hero Award and the Good Deed Award.
- Kids of Deployed are Heroes 2 (KDH2) is an initiative honoring military children who may be experiencing a separation from one or both parents, whether deployed to a war zone, having a short tour or on an extended temporary duty assignment.
- Support and promote the Children and Youth program of The American Legion.
This program provides care and strives to improve conditions for all children. The program works to preserve the integrity of the family unit and takes a realistic approach to the needs of children by considering the physical and spiritual, as well as the emotional and educational aspects, of each situation. The program cooperates with many other public and private community agencies and organizations and supports essential legislation for children at the national, state, and local levels. In some cases, the program offers direct financial assistance and services to individual children or to the families of veterans. Auxiliary members also contribute to The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation, which was established in 1954 to fund special programs and projects which emphasize preventative solutions to difficult children’s issues. Educating members and the general public about these issues is a primary goal of the Auxiliary’s Children and Youth program.
