WASHINGTON — Today the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM) — the nation’s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members — to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away. The new “Your Story, Your Legacy” feature will allow Veterans who have been approved for VA’s pre-need eligibility determination for burial in a VA national cemetery to log in to a secure website where they can privately submit images, autobiographies, military and life milestones, and historical documents.

One of the biggest challenges to any nonprofit organization is keeping their members motivated and engaged. All our members are here for the same purpose, furthering our mission of keeping our child’s memory alive through service to others. But what that looks like may differ from person to person. 

We all have those members we know will show up for every meeting and every event and some of us have members we have never met in person. It’s really difficult for our members who are in states where there aren’t organized chapters or leadership to feel connected and like they’re making a difference.