The Indiana Department of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars recently donated nearly $12,500 to Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group). The generous gift is just one example of the Ladies Auxiliary’s long-standing support for cancer research.

For 100 years, the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW has served American veterans and active duty service members through a variety of programs, including Cancer Aid and Research.

Each of its 4,500 member auxiliaries participates in raising funds toward the program. With more than 450,000 Ladies Auxiliary members nationwide, the impact is significant.

[Top photo, from left: Jennifer Haggard; HCRN Executive Director Cyndi Burkhardt; Jean Haggard, 2013-14 president of the Indiana Department of the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW; HCRN Chairman Christopher A. Fausel, PharmD.]

The Cancer Aid and Research program began in 1947, when then president of the Ladies Auxiliary Dorothy Mann learned of the plight of the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, which was heavily damaged in a fire. She pledged $60,000 to help reconstruct the laboratory, which went on to be regarded as a leading cancer research center, earning NCI Cancer Center designation in 1983.

Since its founding, the Cancer Aid and Research program has raised more than $100 million for cancer research, and exceeded its $3 million annual goal for 17 consecutive years. This funding has provided more than $5.6 million in support to research facilities, and more than $62 million in direct support to Ladies Auxiliary members who are diagnosed with cancer.

“Most of them are just so appreciative of that fact that cancer can be caught soon enough that they’re still around, they’re still survivors,” said Jean Haggard, 2013-14 president of the Indiana Department of the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW.

Haggard recalls a former local auxiliary president who was diagnosed with cancer and hospitalized for treatment. Although she could not attend meetings, the auxiliary rallied around her and made it possible for her to continue serving from the hospital.

In addition, the Ladies Auxiliary awards a two-year $100,000 postdoctoral research fellowship each year to further cancer research. A panel of physicians and researchers reviews applications and selects the most innovative and promising proposal.

Each year, state departments receive back a portion of their contribution to the Cancer Aid and Research program, and donate the funds to a research facility. As president, Haggard led the Indiana Department’s Cancer Aid and Research effort. She challenged local auxiliaries to go above and beyond the national goal of $2 per member — and they came through, with some auxiliaries contributing as much as $10 per member.

[Pictured at VFW Post 6978 in New Whiteland, Ind., from left: Linda Kessinger, 7th District president of the Indiana Department of the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW; Jennifer Haggard; Jean Haggard.]

In total, the Indiana Department raised $89,000 for cancer research, and received back nearly $12,500, which the organization donated to Hoosier Cancer Research Network. One hundred percent of the gift to HCRN will directly support research.

Each event sponsored by the Indiana Department over the past year included a cancer fundraising and awareness component. Haggard designed a pin and a commemorative coin, featuring a wishing well — symbolic of the phrase “Wishing for a Cure.” Her daughter Jennifer, also a Ladies Auxiliary member, contributed charms and bracelets, and sold these items at auxiliary events. They also sold t-shirts and pink baseball bats. Haggard had one bat specially made with the phrase “Knock Cancer Out of the Park.” This bat was donated to a cancer survivor.

A native of Michigan, Haggard moved to Indiana in 1960. When her brother served in Vietnam from 1964 to 1966, there was no question that she would join the Ladies Auxiliary. “My stepfather said to me, ‘Your brother is over there, and you’re going to join,’” she recalls.

Haggard has faithfully served the Ladies Auxiliary since she was old enough to join in 1966. Over the years, she advanced through the ranks, serving in district offices, then state chairs, and ultimately to president of the Indiana Department, which includes 135 local auxiliaries organized into 11 districts, and more than 22,000 members statewide. Having completed her one-year term as president, she continues to serve the Indiana Department in a mentoring role and remains active in her local auxiliary, VFW Post 6978 in New Whiteland, Ind.

[Pictured above are the coin and pin designed by Jean Haggard as part of her Cancer Aid and Awareness fundraising for the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW.]

As significant as the Ladies Auxiliary’s support has been for cancer research, the program is just one of many services it provides to veterans, active duty service members, and their families. A few of the more significant nationwide services include the following:

• Americanism: Conducting programs to promote patriotism, recognition of POWs/MIAs, donation of U.S. flags, and addressing issues affecting service members, such as military suicide awareness.
• Hospital Volunteers: More than 65,000 members volunteered nearly 1.3 million service hours at VA medical centers in the past year, conducting more than 28,000 events at these centers.
• Legislative Services: Advocating on Capitol Hill on behalf of veterans and their families, including more than 112,000 letters, emails, and faxes to elected officials in the last year.
• Service to Communities and Youth: Members are active in serving their local communities, including donations to shelters, conducting food drives, aiding victims of abuse, and more.
• Scholarships: The organization sponsors art and essay contests that focus on patriotic themes and democracy, as well as scholarships for education and other expenses.

Learn more about the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has initiated more than 150 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 300 publications. More than 4,400 patients have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.