On October 14th at the October Board of Director’s meeting held in Geneva, NY, members came together to support not just an awesome project to help women veterans, they also approved a name change for the Athena Society. The Board voted to rename the program the Athena Military Women’s Initiative. The rationale behind the change was that the existing name did not fully describe our mission to help former military women transition to civilian life. The new name retains Athena’s name, (Greek Goddess of War, Diplomacy, and Wisdom) and lets everyone know NYS Women Inc. members are here to help military women in whatever way we can.

The donations brought to the Geneva meeting were abundant. So happens that American Legionnaires staying at the Ramada Inn Fall Board venue for one of their events took interest in our project. The Legion’s National Commander (a woman vet herself) stopped by our meeting. Thanks to Robin Allen (Region 6) a pink camo painted can holding the donation caught the Commander’s eye, and being impressed by our efforts she was happy to pose for a photo. American Legion Post 435 Waterloo Freedom Riders graciously posed with the bikes, flags and full regalia with project chair, Sue Mager, sending our donations off to the women veterans in Buffalo in style.

On Friday Oct. 20th Chair Sue Mager and her trusty assistant- husband Paul Mager, delivered the donations to Jill LaMantia, MSN, RN, and Women’s Program Manager at the Buffalo NY V.A. facility. Our donations were valued at $700.00, and Ms. LaMantia expressed a heartfelt “Thank You” to members and other supporters who made this happen. Once again New York State Women Inc. members lived up to our legacy of Women Helping Women! So where do we go from here? New York State listed here and inquire what your Chapter or Region can do to help the NY women who “Wore the Boots and Battled the Battle”.