For the 48th year in a row, the Oklahoma chapter of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars has given a gift to support cancer research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. This year’s gift of $4,325 brings the group’s total giving record to $152,017.
Ladies Auxiliary members raise funds through bake sales, garage sales, bingo games and individual donations, as well as the group’s annual Cancer Bazaar.
“Our individual chapters get very creative with their fundraisers,” said last year’s Cancer Chair, Bobbi Parris, of Jay, Okla. “The Ladies Auxiliary in Thomas sold pink T-shirts outside a football game and ‘painted the stadium pink.’”
At the state meeting, they held a “Bras for the Cause” competition in which gentlemen decorated and modeled bras. The audience bought tickets to vote for the winner.
“We are amazed each year by the creative and inspired fundraisers the members of the Ladies Auxiliary come up with to raise money for cancer research,” said OMRF Development Associate Allison Coleman. “Finding new treatments for cancer is vital and serious work, but there’s no reason you can’t have fun raising money to help. We are grateful to them for 48 years of support.”
Since it was established in 1914, the Ladies Auxiliary has served veterans and communities nationwide. The Auxiliary has more than 767,000 members, including 7,200 in Oklahoma. It has chapters in more than 80 Oklahoma cities and towns, including:
- Bartlesville
- El Reno
- Enid
- Lawton
- McAlester
- Woodward
In addition to its fundraising activities, the Auxiliary, combined with the VFW, provides more than 11 million hours of service to the community, and its Voice of Democracy Program helps provide scholarships to students in grades 9-12 across the U.S.
