Glass has served as the commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4709 in Conroe for about a year and a half, she said.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What services does the VFW post offer?
We provide assistance for our veterans. We can also help them with getting information with things like Veterans Affairs claims. We can direct them to the right folks within the community that can help them get some things done. We also have relief funds to help veterans. Like when we had the freeze, we had a veteran whose water well froze and had some damage done, so we helped him out with the claim for his insurance money wise.
What kind of presence does the veteran community have in Conroe?
We have a huge veterans community. It’s a very large number compared to most places. It’s interesting because a lot of veterans, like the younger generation, they don’t even know we’re here and what we have to offer them, so we’re trying to get out into the community more to reach those veterans. A lot of times the reason that they don’t know about us is because they have families; they’re still working, unlike the Vietnam veterans who are mostly retired.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the VFW?
It was tough for us. ... We, for a little while, had to shut down our bingo hall. Our bingo is charitable bingo, so all the money that comes in goes back to the people in our community and the veterans, and it helps us assist everyone. Our canteen was shut down, so our veterans didn’t have a place to go to. They like to be around like-minded people and talk about things they’ve all been involved with, so their support system was gone for a little while as well. When the bingo hall went down, we had some major maintenance-type things here in the post. ... When we didn’t have the income, that hurt us big time. We managed to get through it and bounced back really well. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a couple of veterans due to complications with COVID-19, so that was very sad as well.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4709
1303 W. Semands Ave., Conroe
936-703-3316
www.vfw4709.org
