V. A. “Chief ” Wapensky

A Promise Not Forgotten

by V. A. "Chief" Wapensky

Since I retired, I believe every company, every publication and charitable organization in this country has discovered my home address. But being retired, I am now able to properly evaluate the daily delivery of junk mail that accompanies legitimate postal deliveries.

During the past month I kept track of the number of requests received, soliciting funds from (charitable?) organizations. I received a total of 12 which included a number from health or special diseases, pets, veterans, disabled, homeless children, unwed mothers, political and environmental organizations.

I am sure a good number of bowlers receive similar requests and make a token contribution to many of these organizations of five or ten dollars. All of which caused me to wonder how many of these same bowlers make an annual contribution to the bowlers favorite, and only charity, the BVL Fund.

It also made me wonder how many bowlers were even aware of the existence of the BVL Fund and the great work it does to make life just a bit more comfortable for our country’s hospitalized veterans.

As a member of the BVL Fund national committee for the past 25 years, I can attest that bowlers never have, nor ever will be inundated with junk mail from the BVL Fund requesting contributions. Fund raising for the BVL Fund is a local activity, staffed by volunteers, who contribute their time and effort, to raise funds essential to the rehabilitation and recuperation of our hospitalized veterans.

There are those who question the need for funds for veterans, asking if it isn’t the government’s responsibility to provide the necessary care. The answer is yes and no. The government does, subject to budget limitations, provide for the hospital and medical needs of the veterans, But to make their recovery complete, our vets must be emotionally as well as physically healed. Numerous studies have indicated that diversions and therapies such as sports and entertainment are an integral part of that healing process. That is where the BVL Fund, with its league of bowling supporters, becomes involved by providing the funding needed for programs which help to create the vital link to a healthy, full life.

It all began more than 50 years ago when a group of concerned, caring bowlers made a promise to veterans, that they, the bowlers, would support them and that they would never forget them. Today more than 1,200 local bowling associations work together to ensure the continuation of that promise. The volunteers, with support from proprietors, conducted tournaments in their local bowling centers, while others organized various fund raising activities. Through their efforts, an average of a million dollars has been raised annually to fund the many activities of the BVL Fund. These funds are used for a variety of needed services. They include direct cash grants to nearly all VA Medical Centers for recreational and therapeutic equipment and activities. They are used to purchase a variety of equipment from musical instruments to arts and crafts materials to bicycles and bowling equipment.

Thousands of copies of sports publications including Bowling and The Woman Bowler magazines are sent to medical center libraries and day rooms. Over 6,500 color television sets have been distributed to VA Medical Centers during the past 30 years. Annually a mail-in, BVL/VA bowling tournament is conducted with teams entered from throughout the VAMC system. Outstanding bowling personalities such as Earl Anthony and BVL’s traveling ambassador, Helen Duval, conduct frequent bowling clinics at the VAMC’s which doctors praise as a valuable rehabilitative tool. BVL also sponsors the tours of Re-Creation, a troop of talented young singers and dancers who delight VA audiences with their renditions of music from the roaring 20s through the 1990s. BVL also supports the bowling activities of many veterans by providing accessories for the hospital bowling lanes and subsidizing the expenses of patients’ trips to community bowling centers.

BVL, unlike most charitable organizations, can proudly state that it utilizes more than 90% of the funds collected for veterans programs, keeping administration and overhead to a minimum unmatched by other groups.

Although many men’s associations have actively conducted or participated in joint drives with their sister organizations, special credit must go to the women who have raised the majority of funds. They have conducted many special drives from bake sales to memorial contributions to honor special friends and teammates.

Fund raising for the BVL need not be a major chore. It can be accomplished by a variety of activities. Many lane directors, with proprietors support, conduct an annual BVL tournament. They collect a dollar from each league member, with half the funds returned in prizes and the other half sent to BVL. The tournaments can be a league event or a center event. Other directors simply visit the center each night of a designated week and pass through the lanes with a collection kit. Leagues secretaries can set a designated date when they ask their team captains to collect an extra dollar from each team member when gathering nightly bowling fees. Some league secretaries simply walk the lanes and ask bowlers to make a contribution. Whatever method is used, bowlers should remember that the BVL is their charity, their only charity, and its success depends on them.

BVL has been around a long time and it’s come a long way, but there is still much to be done. Our veteran population continues to grow as WWII vets age, Vietnam Vets wrestle with their long-term care needs and the latest generation of vets from the Persian Gulf War now requires our attention. Let’s not forget them now.

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Make it a VetMerry Christmas

By V.A. “Chief” Wapensky

It was just a month ago, on November 11th, that our country celebrated, or perhaps I should say, recognized, Veterans Day.

For many the celebration was simply making a trip to the mall to do some pre-Christmas shopping, while others stayed home and watched their favorite college or high school football team on TV, or took a trip to take advantage of a long weekend. It was a great day for the President and other politicians who made heart-warming speeches, marched in parades, laid wreaths and told all who would listen of the great debt we all owed to the country’s veterans.

In many cities and towns, the streets were lined with American flags, others were displayed by home owners. Veterans of all wars, some barely able to walk, bravely carried flags and rifles as they marched to the cemeteries to honor their fallen comrades. Then the day passed, the flags were stored, the flowers wilted and the uniforms put in mothballs until needed for the next celebration.

Around the world in places like Korea, Kosovo, Bosnia and others with names most of us never hear of, our troops had little time for parades or celebrations. Their day was spent carrying out their everyday tasks with pride and love of country. These men and women are the veterans of tomorrow and the tomorrows of the future.

As you read this you probably are listening to Christmas carols being played, or sung over the radio, or on the TV set in your home of place of employment. You probably already have the Christmas spirit that changes our lives for a few weeks as we say, write or sing, “peace on earth, good will toward men.” Your biggest challenge during the next few days will be trying to find the right fights for those you love and who love you. You won’t mind walking in the bitter cold, or in freezing rain, to accomplish you mission, because you know you will soon be home sipping a hot beverage in front of a warm fire. You will be full of good cheer as you congratulate yourself on your selection of gifts.

Wouldn’t it be great if in every household, the spirit of Christmas would be the same as in yours?

I am sure you would agree, but there are a couple of hundred hospitals, which are home to thousands of disabled vets. That will be their home until the bugle blows and a flag is draped over their casket. There in the hospitals, the spirit won’t be quite the same. Oh, they will probably have some kind of special day this Christmas. There may be some holly and some mistletoe and perhaps even a small, decorated tree. In some of the hospitals there will be a distribution of some token gifts, socks, ties, gloves and scarves and perhaps even a special turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

It is a day that most, who are able, will enjoy. They will appreciate the attention and the fact that someone cared.

That leaves only 364 days to get through until someone again shows that they care. Well, there is someone who does care and who does their best to make those 364 days as comfortable and as enjoyable as possible. That someone is you, the bowler, who through your designated fund raising organization, The BVL, “Bowlers to Veterans Link” makes that effort.

The BVL and you, the bowlers, have been the angels that have cared for our veterans for the past 58 years. It was in 1942 when you first made the promise to provide recreational and therapeutic supplies and equipment to boost the quality of life for the active military and the veterans.

Government funding is limited and provides only for the basic needs of those in its care. BVL takes care of providing a wide range of supporting programs, equipment and supplies that government funding cannot support. They include direct grants to all VA Medical Centers for recreational activities, for the purchase of equipment, from musical instruments, to arts and crafts materials, to bicycles and bowling equipment.

Over the years thousands of television sets have been distributed by BVL to VA Medical Centers to help brighten the lonely days of the veterans.

BVL also supports a variety of other programs that include “Learn to Bowl” clinics, veteran competitions in the Golden Age Games, the Winter Sports Clinic, the Creative Arts Festival and the Wheelchair Games.

I could go on and on with the many activities BVL provides for these lonely and or disabled veterans. But most of you already know of the good work of “the bowlers charity,” for you and many of your parents and elder relatives have been strong supporters for many years. You probably at one time or another participated in your local fund drive for BVL so you are aware of the good works of the Fund.

But now during this season when we celebrate peace on earth, why don’t we make a special effort to include Freedom’s Guardian Angels in our holiday celebration.

We can do that by simply writing a check and sending it off to the BVL as a Christmas gift for our veterans. Even a couple of dollars will help and it won’t take any time away from our busy holiday schedule. Send it off today while it is fresh in your mind. Mail it to: BVL, 10760 Brewer House Road, North Bethesda, MD 20852.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the brave fighting men and women who make the sacrifices necessary to insure our safety and to protect our freedom, often by making the supreme sacrifice. Surely they deserve our love and our support now and in the future.

BVL’s commitment is never ending, for when their active duty days are over, the fortunate men and women will go home to their families, while others will end up spending the rest of their lives confined in a VA hospital. The least we can do is to show them that they have not been forgotten; that we do remember that through the BVL we will always be there for them. Together, if it is in our hearts, and if we truly care, we can help make it a warm vetmerry Christmas.

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Will They Remember

By V.A. “Chief” Wapensky

The tragic events of September 11 brought back a flood of memories from some 60 years ago. It was December 7th, 1941 and I was having a great time at a party my friends had arranged for my 18th birthday.

We were dancing to Glen Miller’s “Sunrise Serenade” when the news of Pearl Harbor interrupted the music. The party ended and most headed back to their hometowns vowing to enlist and fight in the war.

We did enlist and were sent off to various camps around the country to receive basic training. I remember clearly the efforts by the churches, the ladies clubs and individuals who met our troop trains with sandwiches, coffee and doughnuts and anything else they could find that was not rationed. Very little was organized, most was spontaneous, but the giving was from the heart.

The current “war” has also seen the country unite but this time with demonstrations and organized efforts to provide relief to the victims, their families and the businesses needing assistance.

Over 140 fund raising agencies have collected billions of dollars, the Red Cross with over 100 million, millions more from special TV shows and dozens of other fund raising activities. Bowling is doing its share, AMF has a countrywide drive using all its centers and bowlers have participated and responded to all appeals for funds.

It is heartwarming to witness the togetherness of the people brought on by the attacks on New York and the Pentagon. As civilians we cannot participate in fighting a war, that’s the job of the military. But where we can help is by not forgetting the military after the wars are over.

One organization that has not forgotten is the BVL. Organized as the Bowler’s Victory Legion and now the Bowlers to Veterans Link, it provides aid to the hospitalized servicemen and women in ways that the government cannot or will not do.

It all began during World War II, when WIBC’s members raised sufficient funds to purchase a number of medically equipped airplanes to help the war effort. That was the beginning of the BVL which promised the veterans, that they, the bowlers would support them and that they would never forget them. And to this day, local bowling associations all across they country work together to ensure the continuation of that promise.

I am reminded of a short poem written a few years after the big war by an unknown homeless veteran. He wrote:

In time of war and not before,
God and the soldier all men adore.
When the war is over and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted.

I can remember years ago, as a league secretary, going down to the lanes during league play with a cup, seeking donations for the BVL. Loose change, anything you want to give, we asked, only to have so many turn their heads and walk away. BVL has worked hard to over come that injustice. BVL’s volunteers have worked hard to help bowlers understand the needs of the veterans and what BVL does to fill those needs.

I was blessed to serve on the BVL Committee for some 25 years and see first hand the good works it performs. Through their efforts, an average of a million dollars has been raised annually to fund the many activities of the BVL.

While the government takes excellent care of the physical and mental needs of its hospitalized veterans, more is needed to make their recovery complete. The vets must be emotionally as well as physically healed. That is where the BVL becomes involved by providing the funding needed for programs which help to create the vital link to a healthy, full life.

Our country is once again involved in another war. A war which must be fought to preserve our way of life. It may go on for months or even years and the people will support it to the end. When it is over and peace covers our earth, will that support end or will they remember that there will be more of our young people who will find the veterans hospitals their new home.

We can only pray that they will remember. We do know that the work of the BVL will go on, for the needs will be greater and the bowlers will again be reminded not to forget their promise to our veterans.


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