VA burial benefits can help service members, Veterans, and their family members plan and pay for a burial or memorial service in a VA national cemetery. Family members can also order memorial items to honor the service of a Veteran. For complete information, including forms and guidelines, and information regarding applying for a Veterans burial allowance, VA Survivors Pension, Benefits Financial Counseling and Fiduciary services, please visit this website: www.va.gov/burials-memorials.

Veterans, service members, spouses, and dependents may be eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery, as well as other benefits, if they meet one of these requirements. One of these must be true:

• The person qualifying for burial benefits is a Veteran who didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge, or
• The person qualifying for burial benefits is a service member who died while on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty for training, or
• The person qualifying for burial benefits is the spouse or surviving spouse of a Veteran (even if they remarried after the Veteran’s death), or
• The person qualifying for burial benefits is the minor child of a Veteran (even if the Veteran died first) or, in some cases, the unmarried adult dependent child of a Veteran.

You can apply to find out in advance if you can be buried in a VA national cemetery. This is called a pre-need determination of eligibility—and it can help make the burial planning process easier for your family members in their time of need. Choose the VA national cemetery you prefer to be buried in.  Or, if you’d like to be buried in a state or tribal Veterans cemetery, contact that specific cemetery ahead of time to find out about their pre-need program. Gather the documents you will need.

• Social Security number
• Date and place of birth
• Military status and service history (like service dates, discharge character, and rank—commonly found on the DD214 or other separation documents)
• Discharge papers (DD214 or other separation documents)

If you’re applying as a spouse, surviving spouse, or unmarried adult child, you’ll also need your personal information, including your Social Security number. If you’re applying on behalf of someone else, you’ll also need supporting documents showing you have the authority to apply for that person. You’ll need to fill out one of these forms:

• Appointment of Veterans Service Organization as Claimant’s Representative (VA Form 21-22)
• Appointment of Individual as Claimant’s Representative (VA Form 21-22a)

If you’re applying for an unmarried adult child of a Veteran or service member, you’ll also need to provide supporting documents with information about the child’s disability. The Veteran or guardian of the child should also ask the child’s current doctor to verify the documents. These documents should include all of the following information:

• The date of the disability’s onset, and
• A description of the disability, mental or physical, and
• A description of how dependent the disabled child is on the Veteran, and
• The marital status of the child

You can apply online for Pre-Need Determination at www.va.gov/burials-and-memorials/pre-need/form-10007-apply-for-eligibility/introduction. Or you can fill out an Application for Pre-need Determination of Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery (VA Form 40-10007) and mail it to NCA FP Evidence Intake Center, PO Box 5237, Janesville, WI 53547.

 If you need help with any of these steps, the Pre-Need Determination has a toll-free hotline at 800-535-1117 (TTY: 711). Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET, and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. 

CONVENTION INFORMATION

Per District 7 Commander Steve Storey:

The format of the convention is identical to last years.  I understand they are planning a breakfast and lunchwith all the fixins', including a salad bar.  Their efforts are not at their expense, so we are getting a great value for $20.
We have a guest speaker planned from the VA-Houston and will be talking about the VA S.A.V.E. program.
Speaking of which, attached are two forms.  BOTH MUST BE PRESENTED AT CONVENTION 

#1 - Registration Form - Every member or guest who attends the convention must be on the form.   $20 will be collected for each person listed and is required in order to be allowed a meal.
#'2 - Delegate Certification - This form lists your posts delegates to the convention.  Delegates represent and vote for your post for any business matter that comes before the convention.  Read the form carefully.  Attachedare the number of delegates each post is authorized.  If you have any questions about the number of delegates listed, please contact me.Delegates Certification Form is separate from the Registration Form, so delegates must be listed on both.
At a minimum, I encourage Posts to pay the registration fees of their delegates.

Raffles and Auctions

We will be having items for raffle and auction.  Each posts should bring a itemto be auctioned or raffled.  I encourage all of you to solicit donations to our raffle from your local community.  If you need more information on raffles or auctions, please contact me.

Business Matters

This being our election "off-year" there are no elections. The business, or more accurately, training, will be conducted on the preparation of your Consolidated Post Report (CPR).  In my view, this is the most important report a post prepares and I hold its importance over membership.  This report is where you tell the world every single thing you did for your community and I know from talking to all of you, you have done a lot!I hope you have been doing a draft CPR during your monthly meetings and have been soliciting input from your members.  It is too hard to try to capture everything you did throughout the year in one sitting...you all do so much.Everything counts!  If your member drove a veteran to an appointment, it counts!  If you made phone calls to your members, it counts!  If you talk to local residents, businesses, or community leaders about the legion, it counts!  It is not just about your formal fundraisers or events you held.  
So, bring your draft CPR and we will all do it together and learn from each other in how each of us captures different things we do. I have attached a draft worksheet of the CPR, if you do not have one. Start completing it now.