VMA Communications

12/15/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Vice President Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters,

I really need your help in getting the word out to your Lodges to send in their endowment. We had SEVENTEEN LODGES who missed endowment in November. What happened? If they are having meetings they should be collecting endowment every meeting. If they are collecting endowment they should be sending it in every month. The money is not theirs to use so why are they holding on to it? These are the questions you need to be asking at your visitations. These are the questions you should be asking at your District meetings. Please talk to your Lodge Administrators and find out what the problem is. They should be sending something every month. They can go on Moose Charities and pay with the Lodge credit card every month to insure that it goes through in time. They cannot wait until the end of the month to send a check with the way the mail is these days. The checks are credited when they are received no matter when they are written or when they are sent. So, pass this on, send in something by the tenth of the month to insure proper credit. Also, I can't change anything. If they have a problem, they must call Moose Charities directly themselves and offer proof of payment. If a check is not earmarked properly then they will not get credit. Sorry for the rant.

We are over halfway through the year and we have 40 Lodges who met the per capita or given a dollar more to meet the requirement for the Premier Lodge Award. Unfortunately, we have 7 Lodges who are already disqualified due to a lack of endowments and another 7 who have missed two months and can miss no more. Again, please focus on endowment giving.

I'll leave you on a positive note. We are at 66% of our UHEH goal for the Mooseheart Project and we are not even a year into it. Let's keep working to get this done quickly. We have raised over $265,000 to date on a project we started in August so please thank everyone for their outstanding generosity. 

Thank you for all you do!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Vice President

VMA Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

11/17/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Vice President Don Ridenhour 

We're slacking in our Endowment once again. We only had 88% of Lodges reporting last month when we should have 100% every month. If you have Lodges in your areas who are missing their Endowment I need you to find out why and help set them on the right track.

On a good note, we are nearly halfway to our goal on the UHEH Project. Remember to spread the word on this project to "expand our Horizons" by creating a new service for those children who need a little extra help. The Virginia House will be the first one of the new homes for those children with special needs and should be up and running by August. There are a lot of renovations needed to bring the house up to compliance with the standards for those children. The renovations are currently underway. Keep up the good work!

The per capita and $1 more Moose Charities giving for the Premier Lodge Award is moving forward with 33 Lodges already qualified as long as they send in their endowment each month. Remember, any money given to Moose Charities counts toward these goals, including money for the UHEH Project.

Also remember the new Fraternal Rewards Programs. One of the qualifications is individual donations to Moose charities. Your members can do this while renewing their dues online or by going to the Moose Charities website and making a donation there.

Thank you for all you do and keep up the good work! Remember, you are the voice of Moose Charities and it is you that keep us moving forward by giving something back! Your time and efforts are appreciated.

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Vice President

VMA Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

10/30/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Secretary, Artie Ransone (Reinstatement Letter from Moose International addressing the VMA Secretary and President positions)

10/20/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Vice President Don Ridenhour 

Fall Conference Announcement for District Presidents, Committee Chairs and the Executive Board

"Brothers and Sisters,

Your presence is expected at the fall conference at Verona Lodge 2172, 1510 Commerce Rd, Staunton, VA 24401, this Saturday October 25, 2025 to discuss the coming year in our Association. The only Chairpersons who need to attend are those who may be bringing something to the Board for approval, otherwise you need not attend. If you do have something, please notify me in advance so we may save room for you on the program. We will have a lot to discuss and attendance is mandatory for the rest. The Executive Board will meet at 9 AM and the rest will meet at 1-2 PM depending on how the Executive session goes. You should probably arrive in plenty of time to insure you are there when the meeting starts. Business attire is expected. 

Hopefully we will have some answers for you regarding recent events to quell the rumors that are circulating. I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Vice President

VMA Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

10/13/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters, these are the most up to date numbers I have. Please remind your Lodges to send in their endowment. We are at nearly $200K for the Mooseheart UHEH Project which is outstanding. We are working on getting Moose Charites Director Pam Amundsen as our OV at Convention in August and it would be wonderful to hand her a "check" for the entire amount so please, keep up the hard work and let's get this done. We are also working on getting something set up to pay your endowment in a more efficient manner so keep your eyes open for news on that. We have more Lodges every month who are qualifying for their PLA Moose Charities giving (as long as they make their endowment). Keep up the great work you are doing and thank you for everything you do.

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Vice President

VMA Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

9/23/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Sorry these are so late this month but better late than never! The UHEH Project report does not reflect the contributions made at the Convention but I can tell you is the total so far is  about double or more than what the report shows! Well done! Let's push this thing and get it done ahead of the three years if we can. That gaming money needs to go somewhere so why not to our kids at Mooseheart?

The total giving is moving along nicely with 16 Lodges already meeting the giving requirements for the Premier Lodge Award so long as they get their endowment in on time. Speaking of which, we are still missing that 100% mark so stay on top of your Lodges to make sure they get it in on time.

If you don't have Adobe to open these files please let me know and I will send it in Excell. I've included an explanation sheet for the per capita report for those of you who are new. Use this sheet to help your lodges qualify for the Premier Lodge Award Moose Charities giving. They still must turn in endowment each month!

Thank you for all you do!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Vice President

VMA Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

8/7/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Attached are the latest Per Capita and UHEH Project reports as of 7/31/25. We're off to a good start on both. Just remind everyone to send in their endowment. The report will be coming out soon but there are quite a few that have missed already and I will name them at our convention. 

We are already over $70,000 on the new Mooseheart Uniting Hearts Expanding Horizons Project (UHEH) so keep the ball rolling by reminding your Lodges to bring whatever they can to the banquet at the convention with the checks made out to Moose Charities and earmarked Mooseheart UHEH Project. Let's show our visitor "Move Forward by Giving Back"!

Thank you for all you do and I'll see you next week!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

8/3/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection August 2025)

6/8/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters,

Attached is the Per Capita Report as of 6/30/25. On it you will find the amount needed to reach your per capita or $1 more for the Moose year 2025-26.  We have 8 Lodges who have already met the requirement for the Premier Lodge Award for the year, but they still must make sure to send in their endowment each month. 

I don't have the report for the Mooseheart UHEH Project yet but I'm asking everyone to start getting ready to make a donation at this year's Convention banquet to kick the project off right like we did for the AAA Project. All I'm asking is that you give what you can and bring a check to the banquet made out to Moose Charities and earmarked "Mooseheart UHEH Project". This money can be counted towards your use of proceeds from your gaming account so please give accordingly! Some Lodges have already begun giving and I will have a report beginning in August reflecting those amounts.

The Moosehaven AAA Project construction is well underway and updates can be found on the Moosehaven website CLICK HERE

AAA Project - Moosehaven

The AAA Project, A lways A ctive A t Moosehaven, is a $10M expansion of the Moosehaven campus including a new Sports and Recreation Center and Riverfront Pavilion. It was made possible by the fundraising efforts and generosity of Moose members nationwide. The Recreation Center will be located where the New York Sports Complex stood and will extend to the east to make space for the ...

www.moosehaven.org

As always, thank you for what you do for our fraternity!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

7/6/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection July 2025)

6/21/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection June 2025)

6/8/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters,

Those of you that attended the International Convention in Milwaukee have already heard of the new three- year project for Mooseheart called, “Uniting Hearts Expanding Horizons”. For those of you that haven’t, I have attached a flyer that gives some details of what the project entails. We are asking that Virginia Lodges commit to $500,000.00 over the three-year period and I have included a spreadsheet of what we are asking each Lodge to donate if they are able. The total for each Lodge is based upon a per capita total taken from your membership numbers on April 30, 2025 and divided over the three year period and the total commitment. This way it is fairly divided between all lodges. In the past we have exceeded our goals due to the generosity of our members and we believe this project will be no exception. (for the record Ohio has committed to $3 million over that same period!)

Please review the spreadsheet and try to do the best you can to fulfill the amount we have requested from you. The spreadsheet breaks the amount into a yearly amount and a total amount.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me and I’ll try my best to answer your questions.

We would like to make a major drive at this year’s convention to get the ball rolling. We are asking each Lodge to bring a check to the banquet to kick this project off in a big way! Any amount will do just to show that you are willing to do your part to fulfill your obligations to our children at Mooseheart.

This is very important, all checks for this project should be made out to Moose Charities and earmarked “Mooseheart UHEH project”. This money also counts toward your Moose Charities giving for the Premier Lodge Award. We had 70 lodges in 2024-25 that qualified on their Moose Charities giving so let’s shoot for 100% this year!

As always I would like to thank everyone for everything they do for our fraternity. It is through your generosity of your time and money that we can continue to care for our children, our seniors, and our communities. Let’s continue to move forward by giving back!

Thank you and God bless Mooseheart and Moosehaven so they will always be there!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

5/13/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters,

First of all, I want to thank all of you for all of your help this year. Thanks to members like you we were able to collect over $20 million for Moose Charities throughout the fraternity. All units in our Association donated over $1.5 million for the year. We had 73 Lodges who gave enough to qualify for the Premier Lodge Award by giving $1 more than last year or by meeting the Per Capita number of $8.69. By my figures our Lodge members gave $21.99 per member with Tuckahoe Richmond 1163 leading the way with $122.13 per member. Please thank all of your Lodges for the outstanding job they did this year. You can see how each Lodge did per member on the second page of the per capita report. We lost a couple of Lodges this year and have some others who are in trouble. Please help these Lodges find their way and get off on the right track for the new year. I'm counting on you for your help once again to keep us at the top of the fraternity in Moose charities giving.

The Moosehaven AAA project is sitting at over $13 million collected so far with over $773,770 coming from our Association, a whopping 193% of our goal. Again, thank you for helping us achieve this goal. We had 73 Lodges who met the goals we set at the beginning of this project three years ago. Construction is underway on the new recreation center and pavilion. Progress can be watched on the Moosehaven website so take a look at what you helped to achieve for our senior members.

We made our goal on our short-term project for Moosehaven which was to raise $85,000 for a new ADA Accessible Van to transport patients to outside doctor's appointments. We achieved this goal in less than three month so thank all of the Lodges who stepped up and made this possible.

Like I said above, it's a new year and with that comes new projects. In Milwaukee we will find out about a new project for Mooseheart. I will be putting together a goal for each Lodge and it is my hope that we will all step up, as we always do, and get it done!

Last but certainly not least, the Endowment report will be coming out soon. My preliminary look says there were some Lodges who missed in April. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR NOT SENDING IN ENDOWMENT EACH MONTH! In my 12 years of working on Endowment we have only had one month where every Lodge sent in their Endowment. Please get on your Administrators and make sure they understand that this money needs to be sent in each and every month. IT IS NOT THE LODGES' MONEY TO USE! Send it in by the tenth of each month. Buckethead sent in 56 checks to Moose Charities last year for his endowment collections, there is no excuse a Lodge cannot send in 12! So get it done!! The "brown list" will be read in August, I promise!

Thank you for all you do for our Lodges, our Association, and our Fraternity because it is people like you who get it done!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

5/6/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection May 2025)

4/10/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

The Moose year is almost over and we have some unfinished business! As it stands, we still need around $41,000 on our Special Project for a Lift Van at Moosehaven to transport residents to outside Doctor's appointments. Our target date for this project is 4/30/25 so time is slipping away. Some of you still need to send some money to Moose Charities to qualify for the Premier Lodge Award so I ask that you apply it to this project, earmarked "VMA Special Project Moosehaven Lift Van", so you can make sure to meet your goals for the year. I have complete faith you can get this done!

The Moosehaven AAA Project is underway thanks, in part, to donations of $766,114.73 (a whopping 191.53% of our goal) from the members of the VMA. You can see pictures of the construction progress on the Moosehaven website and Facebook page. We have 73 who met their 3 year commitment so be sure to thank them!

As I said above, we still have some Lodges who need to meet the requirements of $1 more or the per capita for the Lodge. I've included the report so look it over and see which of your Lodges need to spend a little more money supporting Moose Charities and our Children and Seniors. It's CRUNCH TIME with only a couple of weeks left before the end of the year. Let's get this done and let everyone see that Virginia is indeed the Top Association. We have 63 Lodges who have qualified, and some others who are very close, as long as they get their endowment in on time. 

Thank you for all of your help this year in spreading the word about Moose Charities, If you, or anyone, has any questions please feel free to call me.

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

4/4/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection April 2025)

3/13/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters,

To date member units of our Association have given $763,339.36 (191%) to the Moosehaven AAA Project. We have an outstanding 70 Lodges who met their total 3 year commitment and 5 more who are very close. Please be sure to mention those Lodgesat your next District meeting and congratulate them on their achievement! This project is basically paid for so a new project will be announced at the International Convention in Milwaukee in May so let's be prepared! They are being tightlipped about it other than to say it will be something for Mooseheart once again.

As you know we have a new short-term project to raise $85,000.00 for a lift van for Mosehaven to take residents to outside Doctor's appointments. We have raised $18,797.76 so far for this project which ends on April 30th. If your Lodges have some gaming money they need to use to meet their 20% well hers's an opportunity! Please have them send their donations to Moose Charities earmarked "VMA Special Project Moosehaven Lift Van". 

It is the home stretch for Moose Charities giving to qualify for the Premier Lodge Award. We have 58 Lodges who have met their goals but remind them they still have to send in endowment every month. We have 11 more that are within $1000 or less to reach their goals. Remind them that any money they send to Moose Charities for any project counts toward their goal and that money counts toward their 20% use of proceeds from gaming so it's a win/win for them. We have some others, who owe quite a bit, who have gotten it done in the past so offer them a little encouragement to get it done again! All of this counts toward the Top Association Award so lets so the Moose who is the best!

Thank you for all do for our Association and the Moose for, without members like you, we would not be where we are today. Keep up the good work!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

3/7/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection March 2025)

2/12/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters,

As of this date the total fraternity wide collections for the Moosehaven AAA Project is at $12,096,949.24. Of this total, the members of the VMA have contributed $761,757.94 which is over 190% of our original goal so thank all of your members for doing such a great job! We have 68 Lodges who met at least 100% of what we asked for so congratulate them as well. As of this time we are not asking for any more money for this project. 

We have a new short-term project with a goal of $85,000.00 for a van with a wheelchair lift for Moosehaven to take residents to outside doctors' appointments. We talked about this at mid-year and have collected $2440 thus far. Please ask your Lodges to give what they can for this project and make sure to earmark it "VMA Moosehaven Clinic Special Van Project" so they can get proper credit for it. This also counts toward their total Moose Charities giving for the Premier Lodge Awards and can count towards their 20% use of proceeds for their gaming money. A letter is going out soon regarding this project.

Speaking of total giving, we have 54 Lodges who have met the requirements for Moose Charities giving for the Premier Lodge Award as long as they also meet the endowment requirements. Some lodges are very close so please discuss this with your Lodges and help them reach their goals. With the 20% use of proceeds rule remind them that they can use gaming money to meet these goals since Moose Charities is a 501c(3) charity. Kudos to Districts 2, 8, and 9 for having all Lodges meeting their goals.

We hit 100% on endowment one time this year but have fallen back into old habits it seems. Please stress the fact that the money collected needs to go to Moose Charities every month. Also make sure that it gets there before the end of the month. We have some Lodges who have missed because they sent it in too soon and it shows up on the last day of the month and not the first of the month as intended. A good rule of thumb is to send something by the tenth of every month. That way it has plenty of time to get there before the end and is not too soon either.

As always, thank you all for what you do for our fraternity and keep up the good work!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

2/5/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection February 2025)

1/10/25

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and are ready to start finishing out the Moose year! 

We have 47 Lodges that have met their qualifications for the Premier Lodge Award as long as they get their endowment in each month. We had the one month with 100% endowment so that proved you could do it so let's work on making that the norm!

The AAA Project has hit nearly $750K which is 187% of the amount we pledged so thank you all very much! We have 68 Lodges who met their total commitment and 4 more who only need a little more to hit their total commitment. 

We will be presenting a new short Association project at Mid Year so I hope to see you there.

Thank you for all you do for our fraternity and be sure to thank all of your Lodges for all of the good things they do for our children and seniors.

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

1/2/25

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection January 2025)

12/12/24

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection December 2024)

11/12/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Greetings Brothers and Sisters, 

Attached you will find the Moosehaven AAA Project report (Honor Roll). As of November 30 we have 67 Lodges who have met the three year goals and five more who are very close! To date we have given over $683K to this project so thank you for an outstanding job!

We have 39 Lodges who have met their per capita or $1 more goals for the Premier Lodge award and many more who are on target to reach their goals as well. To date our Association Lodges have given almost  $777K to Moose Charites so we are well on our way to breaking the one-million-dollar mark once again. So please keep up the good work in supporting our children at Mooseheart and our seniors at Moosehaven. Be sure to thank your Lodges for all they do to promote our precepts of helping others and supporting our communities.

The Endowment report will be coming soon so remind your Lodges that they need to send it in every month in order to qualify for the Premier Lodge Award. We need to keep working to make our Association the Top Association in the entire fraternity!

Bob Benjamin has been in touch with Helen Taylor at Moosehaven and there may be another opportunity to help them with a need in the near future. We will have more information at the Mid-Year Conference in January so I look forward to seeing you all there!

Thank you for all you do and keep up the good work because it is you that make it possible to do as well as we do!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

11/25/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Chapter Advocate, Donna Smith

Hope everyone is doing okay and getting ready for the Holidays.  Please have fun and stay safe.  Below is some information I would like to pass on to the Chapters.

1: CONVENTION - January 16th -18th 2025

        1/17 (Friday) - WOTM SESSION at 5:30pm in the main meeting room - Roll call will be taken

                              - If the A/F staff would like to practice, they may do so before or after the WOTM Session. (separate room)

        1/18 (Saturday) A/F CONFERRAL at 7:30am. This will be held in a different room then the main meeting room.  Roll call is taken 

                                          Matriculates - please pre-register if at all possible.  The Staff and Matriculates should be there by 6:30

                                                                 and others will be let into the room at 7:10 for the meeting to start at 7:30.

                                         March of Checks - This is a requirement for your Chapter and should be presented at the A/F Session Saturday morning. 

                                                                        Look on page 64 of your Officer handbook

                                                                        If your Chapter will not be present at the Convention -Please contact me on where to send the check. 

        1/18 (Saturday) BANQUET - Theme is the 50's & 60's.  I plan on being in a poodle skit and hope to see you dress up as well. 

        1/17 or 1/18 - WOTM LUNCHEON - This is open to all Women of the Moose, but you will have to purchase a ticket. 

                                        I am asking for donations of a gift card or gift for door prizes from your chapter if possible. 

Rooms came available on 11/17.

2.  RALLY DAY - March 8th in Winchester.

                Requirement for at least one (1) person to be in attendance at this meeting / fun day.

Rooms reservations should be coming out to the Chapter soon with the information of what is going on at the Lodge Friday and Saturday

Pre-registration forms will also be made available very soon with a cutoff date in February,

The Winchester Chapter is looking forward to hosting the Chapter Rally Day and has fun activities planned. 

3 - GOLDEN GAVEL- Past Regent

    All past regents are on this committee.  If you do not have a past regent ---this Chapter night & forms still needs to be done.  The board and

    past regents will handle the Chapter night with a pro-tem.

    Get your proposal in now for the Chapter night so everything can be approved. 

4 - NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS. 

        1.  Print off the Nominations, Elections and Installation handbook and read it.  If you have any questions, please ask before January. 

        2.  Get your nominating committee together in December.  This is because the first meeting in January you will announce who is on the committee

              and give the 2 dates (in January) that you will be holding your meetings.

    We will talk more on this at the WOTM Session in January. 

5. - New GRAND REGENT PROJECT.

        The new Grand Regent project for the WOTM this year is for Mooseheart.  We are trying to raise 150 thousand dollars to replace 83 kids' bedroom

      furniture and 3 living room suites.   The Checks are made out to Moose Charities - earmarked Grand Regent Project 24-25

Just a FYI - The Women of the Moose is not going away and the degrees for the women or the men are not changing.  You will hear about a recognition program that

you will be able to achieve at different levels at this year's convention in Milwaukee.  MI is going to start marketing the WOTM a lot more.

Thank you for all you do and have a Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas 

Donna

******* We are trying to update our records on the Chapters at the VMA office.  Please send me the following information 

Chapter Name

Mailing Address

Days and time your meeting are held during the month (example 1st & 2rd Wednesday at 7:00)

Donna Smith, PGCM

VMA President

VA Chapter Advocate

11/12/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Greetings Brothers and Sisters, 

Attached you will find the latest reports on the AAA Project and Per Capita Giving. We have reached the halfway point of our Moose Year and are doing very well on our Moose Charities giving. 

To date we have given $676,750.94 to Moose Charites for endowment and other projects. This gives us $10.88 per capita which is above the fraternity's goal of $8.69 per member. We are also on target to surpass our giving for last year which is outstanding! Please tell your Lodges thanks for all they are doing for our children and seniors. We have 35 Lodges who have already met the requirements for the Premier Lodge Award with their giving but remind them they must also meet the requirements for endowment monthly giving. Last year we had a couple of Lodges who failed to do that part. I've included an explanation of the Per Capita Report for those of you who may be new to the position of District President. Please use it tto help your Lodges understand the report.

The Endowment report will be coming out soon so be sure to check both of the reports to ensure your Lodges are on the right track. It is because of your diligence that we are able to do so well in the Top Association Awards. This year the awards will be divided according to Association size which has kept us from being named Top Association in the past. Even though we did the best among the larger Associations the smaller Associations have had an advantage due to percentages. Let's all work together to make sure we get the recognition we deserve!

I just returned from Moosehaven and the International Chili Cookoff where our Association was well represented. The Blue Ridge Moose legion 82 team from Bassett 383 placed 3rd in the People's  Choice Award so please congratulate them when you see them! While there, I saw the place where the new recreation center will be built for the Moosehaven AAA project and they are currently clearing the site for construction to begin. To date we have contributed over $666,943.71 to this project and exceeded our goal with 166.74% of our goal reached. They are still accepting contributions if anyone needs a place to send some gaming proceeds. Remind them that this money counts toward per capita giving and will be well appreciated by the residents of Moosehaven. They are very excited about this project and are looking forward until the day they can use the new facilities.

All of this is made possible by the members of our Association, and others, so be sure to thank our members every step of the way. Thank you for all you do for our fraternity and may God bless you all!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

11/06/24

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection November 2024)

10/09/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Greetings Brothers and Sisters, 

We're getting to the halfway point in our Moose year and we continue to move forward in our giving. The Moosehaven AAA Project has reached 164% of our original goal ($658,481.77) and the project is underway. The New York building has been razed and new construction on the recreation center has begun. We have 62 Lodges who have given over 100% of their goal. Moose Charities is still accepting donations to this project if anyone needs a place to send gaming money. As with any fundraising effort, that cover a period of years, cost increases may push the total needed up a little so a little extra never hurts when it comes to insuring our future!

Our Association is exceeding our per capita goals with a total of $9.57 so far. This figure helps us in our goal to be the top Association so please continue to donate on a regular basis to the endowment fund and other projects for our children and seniors. We have 29 Lodges so far that have exceeded their last year total or met the per capita requirements. So long as the meet the endowment monthly giving requirements they will qualify for the Premier Lodge Award giving totals. Let's try to make this 100%!

Speaking of endowment, there are still Lodges who are missing their monthly payments. The report will be out soon so be sure to contact the Lodges who missed and see what happened. If you need something to inspire them with let them know that Strasburg (even without a building due to fire) is still sending in endowment every month. So no one, I repeat no one, has any excuse for not sending it in.

Thank you for all you do to make Virginia a top association in our fraternity. If you have any questions feel free to call me anytime.

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

09/30/24

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection October 2024)

09/13/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Brothers and Sisters,

First of all, let me thank your Lodges for completing the Moosehaven Bus Project so quickly. The bus has been purchased and the residents are using it. We went over our goal and Moose Charities should either have contacted, or will be contacting, Lodges about the overages and where the money should be applied. Please let the Lodges who sent money, who were not on the list, know that there is still money needed for the AAA Project. Once again Virginia has risen to the top in fundraising!

The AAA Project is nearly fully funded but like everything else these days there will be cost overruns so they will need a little extra. So far, we have given over 159% ($638,897.58) of what we pledged and are currently the third largest donors behind Ohio ($4,458,891.33) and Florida ($947,108.75). We have 62 Lodges who have met or exceed their goals and another 9 who have met 2 years. The old New York building has been taken down to make room for the new recreation center and construction is under way.

We have 24 Lodges who have met their per capita giving or $1 more goals so far and we stand with an Association per capita number of $7.37 to date. Remember the goal is $8.69 per member so we still have a ways to go. Remind those who have met their goals to keep giving and be sure to send in their endowment each month to qualify for the Premier Lodge award. Sadly, there are some Lodges who are still not sending in their endowment on a monthly basis so it's time to start calling them out at District meeting or on Lodge visits. Remind them once again it is not their money to use but is given to send to Moose Charities to be used as needed. The report should be coming soon so go over it and contact those Lodges on the list who are not meeting their obligations and find out why. They can pay online at Moose Charities so there is absolutely no excuse for being late. The link is HERE and can be found by clicking on the red "donate" button in the upper right hand corner of the Moose Charities website.

This year's Rudolph Virtual 5K is under way. In the past we haven't had much participation from Virginia Lodges so let's see if we can get some Lodges on board to this fun event. You can find some information HERE or feel free to give Gail a call at Moose Charities (630) 966-2200 and she will be glad to help you. Spread the word and let's put Virginia Lodges on the list of contributors! They will be recognized on Facebook, on Moose Charities' website, and in newsletters. Individuals can also form teams.

Last year we went over the $1 million mark for Moose Charities giving and there is no reason we cannot meet or exceed that number once more! Thank you all for your hard work and helping to make Virginia a top Association in Moose Charities giving. You are what makes this work by keeping the information flowing.

Thank you for all that you do!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Chaplain and Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

09/09/24

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection September 2024)

08/12/24

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection August 2024)

08/07/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Great news everyone so please pass this along! Thanks to your generous donations the Moosehaven Bus Project is fully funded! Thank you to everyone who donated.

You have been so generous there is extra money left over that can be used for other projects. Since Moose Charities is only allowed to put the money you sent in toward the specified project, they will be contacting donors, whose money exceeded the limit asked for to find out where they would like that extra money to go. You can donate it to the Moosehaven AAA Project, items on the wish list, endowment, or anything else you care to choose. Be sure to pass it on that the project is finished and any money earmarked for that project received from now on will have to go somewhere else according to Moose Charities rules. If someone's name is not on the list it means the goal was reached before the money got to Moose Charities and they will be contacted on where they want the money redirected.

Please review the per capita giving numbers and help your Lodges reach their goals. We have 21 Lodges who have already met their goals but remind them they must still send in endowment each month. Sadly we still have some Lodges who are not sending endowment each month. Time to stop playing around. Tell them the money is not theirs and must be sent in to Moose Charities in a timely manner. It is so simple to submit that there is no excuse for not doing it every month.

The AAA Project is doing very well but is still short of the overall goal for the entire project so please let your lodges know they are still accepting donations. We have hit nearly 156% of our goal so please thank your lodges that have contributed so generously. We still have 2 on the BROWN list so remind them that it is part of our mission to support Moosehaven!

Again, Virginia is the best when it comes to caring for our children, our seniors, and our communities.

Thank you for all that you do!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

07/01/24

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection July 2024)

06/17/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour 

Greetings Brothers and Sisters! 

Attached are your Moose Charities reports for the first month of the new year. We already have 3 Lodges who have met the qualifications for the Premier Lodge Award! What a great start. Unfortunately, there are quite a few that missed endowment the first month and you will see that on the report from Charles Carter. Remind your Lodges what I said at mid-year about those that miss endowments. There is no reason whatsoever that endowment should not be sent in every single month. But enough of that, let's focus on another record setting year for the Lodges of the Virginia Moose Association and keep those donations coming in for our children and seniors.

We currently stand at over 150% of our goal on the Moosehaven AAA Project with over $600,000.00 donated so far. They are still about $1.5 million short of the total they are looking for so any donations you have to spare is still needed to complete the project. We have 60 Lodges who have met or exceeded their 3 year goals! Please thank them for all of our seniors.

Speaking of projects, as you may or may not know, we have a new short term project for Moosehaven for a 15 passenger bus for the residents. Our goal is $120,000 by the end of July. If you have some proceeds from gaming you need to donate here's your chance! The bus is needed because their drivers with CDLs are getting some age on them and a CDL is not required for buses of this size. The busses they have been using are much larger and getting old like their drivers! By the way, Ohio has already bought one so we need to get ours up and running with our name on it to keep our name out there!  When sending money to Moose charities for the VMA Moosehaven Bus Project be sure to earmark it as such ("VMA Moosehaven Bus Project")to insure proper credit is given. This money also counts toward your per capita/$1 more giving to Moose Charities!

I have also included the new Moose Charities giving goals for this year. The per capita has gone up to $8.69 per member and the amount need for each lodge to reach that can be found in column H on the report. Some have a better chance reaching the $1 more so the last column shows the amount need on the easiest way to reach the goal. Just make sure everyone sends in the endowment each month because last year we had lodges that met the monetary goals and did not send in their endowment enough months.

I want to personally thank each of you for your hard work and help in making Virginia a top association in Moose Charities giving. Our children and seniors rely upon us to take care of them and that's what we do! 1please keep up the good work!

Fraternally,

Don Ridenhour

VMA Moose Charities Chairman

Moose Charities Board Member

06/04/24

VMA Official Communication from Communications Chairman, Bonnie Kidwell (Communication Connection June 2024)

05/14/24

VMA Official Communication from VMA Moose Charities Chairman Don Ridenhour