American Legion ready to tackle membership decline

Legionnaires from numerous Nassau County American Legion posts gathered in Glenwood Landing Post 336’s meeting room on Sept. 29 to discuss declining membership and to exchange financial tips to help keep Legion posts open.
Representatives of the Glenwood Landing, Sea Cliff, Glen Cove, Oyster Bay, Locust Valley, Carle Place and Manhasset posts addressed those key issues and helped answer legionnaires’ questions.
One pressing issue facing the posts is their inability to fill leadership and chaplaincy roles due to the deaths of officers and low membership among younger generations. This has led to the problem of not having legionnaires available to attend a fellow veteran’s funeral, normally one of the most solemn duties of the American Legion.
Ralph Casey, third vice commander of the Nassau County American Legion and former chaplain of Post 336, emphasized that not having American Legion members and chaplains for legionnaires’ funerals is unacceptable.
Casey proposed that posts work together to communalize their chaplains so that no matter the post, every legionnaire can be laid to rest with the knowledge that his or her brothers and sisters-in-arms will be there to remember them and honor their service.

“It hit me really hard when I found out that a post had two deaths and nobody from the post attended the funeral,” Casey said. “That’s what’s owed to all veterans, and that will never, ever happen again, even if I have to go myself. We’ll never leave a veteran to die alone.”
Casey also suggested that posts and their commanders work together to begin succession training so that younger legionnaires can assume command positions in the event of officers’ retirements or deaths. This way, Casey said, the posts will have officers ready to take on the mantle of leadership, rather than leaving positions unfilled, as has happened in numerous posts on Long Island.
Another important aspect of the discussion was finances, as Legions, who often own their bulding, have to sell their hall due to an inability to pay the taxes. This problem was badly exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, as traditionally posts tended to make most of their money by renting out their legion hall or holding charity events there.
Legionnaires from the different posts exchanged ideas on potential ways to make more money or to save what they already had. Several members of Glenwood Landing Post 336 highlighted the recent Oktoberfest event they had organized, which they said made the post roughly $4,000, a minimal cost and effort to them.
Anthony Paternostro, treasurer for the Nassau County American Legion, answered questions and gave advice to attending legionnaires. Paternostro offered information about selling a post, saving money throughout the year, and other concerns legionnaires had. He also emphasized the importance of abiding by American Legion and state guidelines about spending.
“The biggest thing if you’re going to make donations outside of the legion, is make sure it’s to a 501(c)(3) or (19) non-profit organization,” Paternostro said. “You’re not supposed to be making any donations to anybody that’s not a non-profit.”
Assemblyman Edward Ra offered support for the attending legions and promised that he and other elected officials would do what they could to continue to support veterans of the American Legion.
“We went for years during Covid with people being unable to rent out posts, with posts closing down,” Ra said.
“It’s a community gathering place, and obviously it’s a place to serve you veterans.”