When the Call Comes, We Show Up

There are moments when leadership is measured by plans, meetings, and decisions.

Then there are moments when none of those things matter nearly as much as simply showing up.

Recently, Department of Washington Adjutant Joe Wright and I traveled to the Spokane area to see firsthand the devastation caused by the wildfires and, more importantly, to understand what our VFW Posts and members needed as they worked to support their communities.

We went there to assess.

We left reminded of what service really looks like.

Seeing It for Ourselves

Our first stop was VFW Post 1435, where we met with Darren Hughs and learned more about the work underway across the area.

From there, we traveled to the Spokane Fairgrounds, which had become a center of activity for the wildfire response. Incident command personnel and multiple agencies were operating from the grounds. Hundreds of evacuees had taken shelter there, along with horses and other animals displaced by the fires.

Several hundred firefighters were working the fires throughout the region.

Numbers like those are easy to put into a report. They feel very different when you are standing there.

Walking through rows of tents and seeing hundreds of people displaced from their homes changes your perspective. These aren't statistics. They are families wondering what comes next. They are people waiting for updates. They are neighbors who may have left home with little more than what they could carry.

For some, there may be nothing waiting when they return.

Sometimes Showing Up Is Enough to Matter

While we were at the fairgrounds, a member of the incident command staff saw us and came over.

She wanted to thank us simply for being there. She shared her family's connection to military service and told us how meaningful it was to see the VFW present. What began as a conversation quickly became an emotional moment, complete with tears and hugs.

I'll remember that interaction for a long time.

We hadn't done anything extraordinary in that moment. We showed up.

Sometimes we underestimate how much that matters.

People facing some of the worst days of their lives need supplies, shelter, food, and resources. But they also need to know their community has not forgotten them.

Being present sends that message.

Service Doesn't Ask for a Membership Card

After coordinating with incident command, the VFW began preparing to provide meals for those displaced by the fires at the fairgrounds, supported through the VFW Department of Washington Disaster Relief Fund.

Not just VFW members. Not just veterans. People who needed help.

That distinction matters.

We are a veterans service organization, but our responsibility to serve has never stopped at the doors of our Posts. Our members live in these communities. We raise families in them. We work in them. We volunteer in them.

When our neighbors are hurting, we should be there.

That's part of what service means.

When Those Serving Are Hurting Too

Our next stop drove that lesson home.

At VFW Post 51, Junior Vice Commander Mike Browell showed us the remarkable amount of clothing, supplies, and other donations arriving from local businesses, VFW Posts, and members of the community.

The Post had become more than a meeting place. It had become a place of refuge.

Some evacuees were staying there. Supplies were being organized and distributed. People were trying to figure out what came next.

And Mike was doing all of this while facing his own loss. His home had been lost in the fire.

Think about that.

While dealing with the reality that his own home was gone, he was still helping his Post serve other people affected by the same disaster.

We also learned that a VFW Auxiliary member had lost her home.

During our visit, we met an elderly couple who had been evacuated. They were visibly shaken by what they had experienced and deeply appreciative that people were there to help.

The Department of Washington VFW Riders presented Post 51 with $1,000 to help support the relief effort.

It was another reminder that sometimes the people doing the serving need someone to stand behind them, too.

You Can't Build This After the Crisis Starts

We later visited VFW Post 3086, where donations and support were also flowing into the community. Our plans to travel farther into the affected areas had to change when another fire broke out. That alone demonstrated how quickly conditions were changing.

Yet throughout the area, VFW members continued working.

What struck me was that none of this could have been created overnight.

You cannot wait until a wildfire starts to build relationships with your community.

You cannot establish trust after people have already been evacuated.

You cannot suddenly create a network of Posts, volunteers, donors, community partners, and relief resources when the emergency is already underway.

Those relationships are built during the quiet days.

That is one reason the work we do in our Posts matters so much, even when it doesn't attract attention.

A strong Post isn't just a building where veterans hold meetings.

It can become a gathering place. A supply center. A kitchen. A shelter. A place where someone who has lost nearly everything can walk through the door and find a familiar face.

When the worst happens, years of community involvement can suddenly become a lifeline.

This Is Where We Belong

I traveled to Spokane expecting to assess damage and determine where we could help. I left reminded of something much more fundamental.

The true measure of an organization isn't what it says when everything is going well.

It's what its people do when their neighbors are hurting.

I saw Comrades opening doors.

I saw donations arriving.

I saw volunteers stepping forward.

I saw VFW members serving people while dealing with losses of their own.

And I saw how much it meant to people simply to know that someone had shown up for them.

There will be time later to count meals served, dollars distributed, supplies donated, and families assisted. Those numbers matter because they help us understand the scope of the work.

But they won't tell the whole story. They won't capture the tears and hugs. They won't explain what it means to an evacuated couple to know someone cares. They won't fully describe a Comrade who loses his own home and still turns around to help his neighbors.

Those are the moments that define service.

Sometimes service means advocating in Washington D.C..

Sometimes it means helping a veteran navigate a benefits claim.

Sometimes it means mentoring a younger Comrade or volunteering in the community.

And sometimes it means opening the doors, firing up the grills, unloading donations, and standing beside people who don't know what tomorrow will bring.

When the call comes, we show up. Because that's where the VFW belongs.

Help Us Continue the Mission

The work in Eastern Washington continues. If you would like to help the VFW provide meals, supplies, and other assistance to those affected by the wildfires, please consider supporting the VFW Department of Washington’s relief efforts.

Donate to Support Wildfire Relief Efforts

Every contribution helps us continue showing up where we are needed most.