Minturn VFW Post 10721

The Minturn Mount Holy Cross VFW Post 10721 was chartered within the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States in 1983.  As a nonprofit organization, our local VFW Post receives no federal or state funding and relies solely on individual, foundation and corporate donations to fund its programs.  In keeping with the motto of the VFW, “No one does more for veterans”, one of our Post’s main purposes is to ensure the care of local veterans with financial assistance. This assistance consists of helping veterans with living expenses, education & job opportunities and health, disability, homeless, suicide and substance abuse issues.

Since the ColoradoGives program requires its members to be a 501 (c) (3) organization and our Post is a 501 (c) (19) nonprofit, which is the charitable equivalent of a 501 (c) (3) reserved for war veterans, our Post is using the national VFW Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, as our fiscal agent to receive donations for our Post and then pass them through to our Post.

Our Post also focuses on providing community services.  Our only fund-raising activity is our 9/11 golf tournament which was organized to recognize the heroic actions of New York City first responders and to provide a 4 year college scholarship to 6-8 graduating seniors from the six high schools in the Vail Valley every May.  Since this program was started in 1983, our VFW Post has provided over 100 scholarships.

Our veterans assist other veterans by providing transportation to medical, dental, vision and physical therapy appointments in Eagle County and to the Veterans Administration medical facilities in Denver, Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.  In addition, our veterans deliver meals to fellow veterans, assist them with packing their belongs and helping them move and visit with those veterans who are lonely, depressed or on suicide watch.

In accordance with our core value to promote patriotism, every November our veterans are welcomed into some 20 Eagle County schools to discuss with students what veterans did during their military service so these students can better understand how veterans served their country and illustrate the spirit of patriotism.  Our Post also encourages local students to participate in two patriotic essay competitions (the patriotic topics differ each year) sponsored by the national VFW organization with prizes and scholarships awarded on the post, district, state and national level.  One is the "Patriotic Pen" limited to middle school students (grades 6th - 8th) and the other is the "Voice of Democracy" for high school students (grades 9th - 12th).  It is very gratifying and encouraging to read these thoughtful patriotic essays written by our future leaders. 

Our Post was very involved in the planning and construction of the Freedom Park Memorial in Edwards which honors veterans, first responders and 9/11 with a piece of granite from the Pentagon.  It also assumes the responsibility for the daily and ongoing maintenance of this Memorial and the flag.  Our Post also organizes and hosts public memorial services on Memorial Day and Veterans Day at this site and leads the Vail 4th of July Parade and provides the color guard at the Patriotic Concert at Ford Amphitheater on the 4th.  

Throughout the year, veterans perform honor guard services at veteran funerals, color guard services at school graduations, athletic events and other civic events.  There are many other events and activities where veterans volunteer their time to provide assistance as needed or requested, i.e. like the laying of wreaths in December and placing of flags in May at veterans’ graves. 

All of our services are totally free of charge with no VFW affiliation required to receive these services. Donations to our VFW Post that are designated for our Scholarship Fund or Veteran Relief Fund (providing living related financial assistance for local and transient veterans) will be earmarked for these two funds while unspecified donations will be deposited to our General Fund.