Minnesota’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary President Patricia Thrond of Emmons, a member of Frank J. Kalis Auxiliary 1778, was honored during the national mid-year conference March 18-21 in Las Vegas.

She is one of 49 state presidents who achieved the goal of 90 percent membership by Dec. 31, 2009. At a special event, National President Jan Tittle of South Carolina honored each with a medallion recognizing her leadership.

The event took place at Harrah’s Las Vegas with more than 300 members from throughout the country in attendance.

In addition to honoring the state presidents, the purpose of the conference was to discuss the mid-year progress of the auxiliary’s 11 community service programs, such as Veterans & Family Support, the Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest and the Hospital & VA Voluntary Service program.

Of particular interest to those who attended was the status of the cancer aid and research fond as members strive to raise more than $50,000 to the Nevada Cancer Institute for its Immunology Research Program, which seeks to understand how immune systems react to cancer.

The 550,000 members of the nationwide organization are wives, mothers, daughters and other female relatives of those who have served in the U.S. military overseas during a war. As when the organization began in 1914, serving veterans continues to be its major goal. Supporting America’s active-duty military personnel by shipping care packages and sending them free long-distance telephone cards are just two of the ways the organization serves them today.