A plea for the children

This post will be way off the beaten path for me, but I feel it’s important enough that it needs to be shared. I’ll get back to posting low-carb information soon, which I realize is why you come here, but please bear with me for a moment and read on.

I grew up in small community in Northern Oklahoma. As you can probably guess, this area will always be home to me, no matter how far away I move. After graduating I got married and moved to a city just 20 miles away - Ponca City.  It’s always been a busy city for it’s size. Lots to see and do.  Home to the famous oil magnate E.W. Marland and the Pioneer Woman, there is never a shortage of activities going on. Like many people who lived there, we enjoyed participating and being a part of the community. During my time working as a preschool teacher at a local day school, I had the privledge of spending time with a 15 year old girl named *Kelly.

Kelly came to our facility to do volunteer work and learn about our business. She was eager to learn, hard working and sincere. She was also misunderstood and the victim of an abusive and negligent home. Because of her circumstances, she was now residing at the American Legion Children’s Home, which was founded by E.W. Marland to help the children of veterans.  Eventually the home voted to take in any child that needed a good, safe, secure environment to grow up in.  Kelly was benefiting from that generous decision.

I marveled at how she’d overcome obstacles that would have sent most kids straight into trouble. Thanks to the love and care she was getting from the children’s home, she was beating the odds and becoming a productive and valuable citizen in our community. Many children in her situation would have already been into drugs, dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, been in the juvenile system, or even back in an abusive relationship.  I can’t tell you how proud I was to see her progress and the pride she took in a job well done. She had self respect and she wanted to work to help others.  This didn’t happen because she worked along side me on a regular basis. I made sure she knew I cared and I did I what I could for her, but all the credit really has to go the the American Legion Children’s Home. They took her in when her own family didn’t want her. They gave her what she needed to succeed in a world that seemed to be against her. We moved away a couple of years later and I lost touch with her. I ran into her several years later and learned she was married with two beautiful children.  Again, she’s beat the odds.

I’m telling you this story to help you see just how important this home is. It’s badly needed. Unfortunately, 20 members of the American Legion of Oklahoma’s Board of Directors do not seem to agree. In a recent vote they decided to shut down the home on December 31st of this year. This will leave 44 children homeless. The safety and stability they have come to rely on will be ripped away from them just after Christmas. At this time they have no place to go. This also will displace about 60 staff members and their families, not to mention they will all lose their jobs. And again, this all right after Christmas.

Many people will automatically start thinking of the funding issues. It does indeed take a lot of money to keep an operation like this running. If it were really the problem, it would at least be somewhat understand able. Sadly, this is not the case, as you’ll soon see. The board claims the home is a financial burden and a “black eye” on the community. A black eye? Helping children stay off the streets, get an education and grow to be the kind of citizens a town would be proud of is a black eye? To me these reasons just sound like an excuse, and one that has no backbone to support it at that. To further prove my point, here’s some information shared with me about this situation:

If this board has made the decision to “get out of the children’s home business”, there is a better way. This is NOT a budget issue. It is easy to understand that if there is no money, you have to shut things down. The home has the funding it needs. 90% of the funding is provided through DHS. The other 10% is provided to us through Grant writing and private donations. The American Legion does support the home with donations and everyone is very appreciative because they go above and beyond to support these children on an inndividual sponsorship as well as in many other ways.

So as you see, the American Legion doesn’t have to fork over a penny to keep this home running. But many of the 27,000 + members do donate because they believe in what the home is doing. It seems this board of 20 are the ones with an issue, as American Legion members across the nation have expressed outrage at this decision.

My dearest friends, I appeal to you now in behalf of these children. I’m not asking for a donation, just a moment of your time. My heart breaks over this. These kids deserve a chance. Here’s an excerpt from a letter one of the children wrote to the board:

Here at my home I see my family in groups. Our parent figures (that others see as staff or faculty) teach us how to overcome our anger, our fear and our past. And not only that, all of them put all of their outside problems to use to help us, and to show us that there is still hope for us to survive the real world. No matter how hard life is, there’s still hope for life, love and peace.

Still there’s times when we all make mistakes, but the ALCH family doesn’t let that stop them for setting examples for the next generations to come. When I grow up, I want to be a professional singer, dancer, swimmer or clothes designer. And when I grow up, I want to go to the performing art academy!

My favorite colors are lime green and black. I love to sing, dance, swim, play basketball and cheer.

Like I always say: Find your three abilities!

Learn your ability. Work your ability. Walk to success and become your ability!

This young lady just wants the chance at a normal life. Children should be laughing, playing, learning and growing – not worrying about where they’ll live, who will care for them, or where the next meal will come from. Knowing they are throwing her, and other children just like her, out on the street because of  what appears to be some manufactured reasoning, should break your heart as it does mine. This is our future! If we don’t care for our children now, what do we expect our nation to be like when they are in charge?

What makes this tragedy even worse is the board refuses to allow the home more time to find a workable solution to their perceived problems. They won’t let another charity organization take over. They won’t give an extension so alternative routes can be explored. They just seem to want to shut it down… now.

Here’s how you can help:

Visit the website Save The American Legion Chidren’s Home and catch up on the latest updates. Read the letters of support from the Red Cross, several child welfare advocates and more. Download this PDF and learn how you can send emails and letters urging the board not to follow through with this action and to allow other options to be considered.

If you are near the area, please attend a public forum that will let the facts be heard about this closure. It’s set up for tomorrow, Sunday Nov. 21st at 2 pm in the Poncan Theatere. This forum is absolutely free and open to the public.

Please, let your voice be heard. What if this was a child you knew? Or even one of your own, through what ever circumstance might bring them there, such as being orphaned? You’d want people to speak out on their behalf. You’d want to know they were being cared for. Please take a moment of your time to let these people know you care and this closing is a disservice to the children and the community.

We have over 6000 vistors a month to this blog. Surely if we all pitch in, with what is already being done, we can make a difference in the lives of these 44 children, and any future children that may need to seek refuge in the American Legion Children’s Home.

Thanks so much for your time and for listening to something that is so dear to my heart. You all are the best!

Much love,

Amy Dungan

*Name changed to protect privacy.