American Legion Post 34, El Reno, Okla., together with ALA Unit 34 held its Gifts to the Yanks program fundraiser this year by hosting a poker run and a live auction on Oct. 15, 2022. Dinner was provided for all the participants. We raised just over $2,924. We will be attending the annual Veterans Day Assembly at El Reno High School on Nov. 11, 2022, to present them with a check to kick off their fundraising for Gift to the Yanks. This year will make the 77th straight year that El Reno High School has held the Gifts to the Yanks program. After the students have completed their fundraising, they will go shopping to buy and wrap all the gifts purchased. In December the high school will hold their annual Gifts to the Yanks program assembly in the high school auditorium. At the end of the program, they load all of the wrapped gifts onto their school buses and go to Oklahoma City to the VA hospital. While spreading the holiday cheer by singing Christmas carols in the halls, they make sure that each and every veteran in the hospital receives a gift! We are proud to have continued this for the past 76 years, having never missed a year!

Debbie Wintermute
Unit 34 Secretary
El Reno, Okla.