Members of Conroe, Texas, Post 411 held their annual free hot dog giveaway on Labor Day 2018. This is Post 411's 4th annual hot dog giveaway since being reorganized in 2013. his is an event that is always open to the public. Normally we would have had our hot dog giveaway on the 4th of July, but we had a full schedule so we decided to postpone the event until Labor Day.
For the event we had Home Depot come out again to provide the local children with craft projects they could build and then decorate. We also participate in the Wreaths Across America program in conjunction with a local veterans group. We had representatives on hand taking orders for the national cemetery in Houston. As this was our first function with the Wreaths Across America program, we were anxious to make a strong showing in the community for the cemetery. There were numerous orders taken for this project.
Local merchants were approached to donate to our function, and most of those were more than eager to lend a hand with donations for the giveaway or door prizes. Members also provided over 50 items for a silent auction. While this event was not a planned fundraiser, the post was able to collect over $1,100, much of which came from the silent auction items. Free live entertainment was donated by a local DJ. Normally a local pharmacy is on hand to provide free flu vaccines, but due to conflicting schedules they were not able to attend this year.
Several members of the post weathered the cloudy skies and cooked the hot dogs outside, while other members and their families served the food and drinks.
After sitting basically dormant for a great many years, the post home was sold. It was recently learned the post was just weeks away from having its charter rescinded. Several members of another post transferred their memberships to Post 411, which at the time had only about 10 inactive members, to reorganize the post. Since being reorganized in 2013 Post 411 has grown to over 250 paid members. The post is active in the community and the local school districts. The post does not have a permanent home, so we rent space at a local outlet mall where we pay a set fee per function and pay the electric bill for the month. Because the post also does not have a steady reliable source of income, the monies raised from fundraisers finance the post during the year. The post also has a 50/50 drawing at each meeting, which is normally attended by 20-30 members, and the money collected was designated early in the reorganization process to fund families adopted during the holiday season.