KILN VFW POST 6285

08/25/2026

08/25/2026

At VFW Auxiliary National Headquarters, we have received a number of questions recently about VFW and VFW Auxiliary scholarships and contests. There is some confusion about which scholarships and contests "belong" to which organization, so we've created this quick, handy guide to help keep it all straight!

VFW Auxiliary scholarships for high school students include the Young American Patriotic Art Contest and 3-Dimensional Art Contest. Find more information about these on our website, here: https://vfwauxiliary.org/what-we-do/scholarships-2/

The VFW Auxiliary Continuing Education Scholarship for members and their immediate family can be found here: https://vfwauxiliary.org/scholarships/continuing-education/

The VFW Auxiliary's Illustrating America contest is for students in grades K-8. Find more, including submission forms, here: https://vfwauxiliary.org/what-we-do/youth-activities/

While we do promote the Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen as part of our Scholarships Program, these are VFW scholarships. If you have questions about them, please reach out to them directly. You can find this year's theme and submission information, including a guide to finding local Posts, on their website, here: https://www.vfw.org/community/youth-and-education/youth-scholarships

The VFW's "Sport Clips Help a Hero Scholarship" information can also be found on their website, here: https://www.vfw.org/assistance/student-veterans-support

Learn more about the Smart-Maher Teacher of the Year contest, sponsored by the VFW, here: https://www.vfw.org/community/youth-and-education/teacher-of-the-year

We hope this helps! Thank you for promoting these incredible opportunities.

08/25/2026

Ok here is the approved agenda for SO-CO in Mobile, Alabama.

08/25/2026

At VFW Auxiliary National Headquarters, we've received a number of questions about our Scholarships and Programs, one of which keeps coming up: "Why can't I find information about Illustrating America under Scholarships in MALTA or on the VFW Auxiliary website?"

The answer is... it's not a scholarship! Illustrating America is a contest for students in grades K-8. The top three National winners in each grade category (K-2, 3-5, 6-8) are each awarded a gift card, not a scholarship, and this contest was created in 2019-2020 by the then-National Youth Activities Ambassador, therefore, information about it can be found under Youth Activities.

We admit, this can be confusing - especially because both of our art scholarships have "contest" in the name, and because the VFW's Patriot's Pen is an "annual youth essay contest," according to their description, but we report all three of those under Scholarships, along with Continuing Education and the VFW Voice of Democracy.

But it may help to remember that Illustrating America is the only one of these contests that allows kindergarten through fifth graders to enter, and, unlike their teen and tween siblings, these kiddos aren't looking all the way ahead to college yet.

Find more about Illustrating America and our other Youth Activities initiatives and activities here: https://vfwauxiliary.org/what-we-do/youth-activities/

Find all you need to know about Scholarships here: https://vfwauxiliary.org/what-we-do/scholarships-2/

We hope this helps!