Meet One of the Most Decorated Military Men in Texas- Victoria Native Army Sgt. Israel Tames, Holder of The Silver Star, 5 Bronze Stars and 5 Purple Hearts-Key Note Speaker
Austin, Texas – January 18, 2017– The American Legion, Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars and Conservative Texans for Charitable Bingo joined forces at the Texas Capitol today to rally in support of Charitable Bingo in Texas. Conservative Texans for Charitable Bingo is a non-profit group of Texas charities and supporters and veterans who believe in helping fund local charity needs through the game of bingo as regulated by the state. More than 900 charities across Texas raise money for children, veterans, education, fine arts, special needs citizens and more. Total charitable proceeds for the people of Texas now exceeds more than $1 billion dollars.
Today, Retired Army Sgt. Israel Tames, a native of Victoria, advocated on behalf of Conservative Texans for Charitable Bingo as the keynote speaker at the Texas Capitol. Tames entered the Army at 17 years old and served two tours in Vietnam and one in Korea. He has been issued the nation’s third-highest honor the Silver Star Medal, five bronze stars, five Purple Hearts and two combat infantry patches – one from Vietnam, and one from Korea. He’s been wounded five times and still recalls the shrapnel caught beneath the surface of his skin with patriotic fervor. He retired after 20 years in the military and volunteers as often as possible for veterans’ causes. He will be the keynote speaker.
In a tight budget year, veterans and Texas charities need our help more than ever before. Charitable Bingo helps keep VFW and American Legion posts open across the state of Texas and helps fund charities including: CASA, Boys and Girls Clubs, Catholic Charites, Children with Disabilities and hundreds of charities across the state. Our top legislative priority is HB 874 by Rep John Kuempel that will allow a Raffle Ticket as a Bingo Prize-Legislation that will help raise money for Veterans and Charities and other legislation supporting veterans and charitable bingo. We also support HB 446 by Rep. Cecil Bell and we need support on Carryover Pull Tab Legislation that will be filed.
“We believe Charitable Bingo is a conservative idea and especially when budgets are tight like the budget is during the 2017 legislative session. We believe local communities should take care of those less fortunate in their communities through fund raising activities. Many people give their time and talents to help charitable causes, but raising funds for local charity needs cannot be done alone through bake sales and raffles. They simply do not raise enough money for the needs in a community. We believe communities should be able to take care of their own local needs through this volunteer game of bingo instead of more government and higher taxes. Everyone wins in bingo, local charities, players, businesses, and even government through taxes it receives, reduction in social spending, and more money in the local economy,” said Will Martin, Co-Executive Director of Conservative Texans for Charitable Bingo & Chairman of Legislative Commission American Legion Department of Texas.
Taxpayers cannot support all the needs in a community, and government should be limited to its constitutional responsibilities. Government has a role to play, but cannot pay for all the needs of its citizens through higher taxes and more entitlements.
The VFW is the oldest Major Veterans Service Organization in the United States. The mission of the VFW is to support the veterans and their families. The 2.4 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliaries are located in 8,500 VFW Posts around the world. While we are a national organization, we express this dedication through our local posts and programs to support veterans service members and their families.
“In Texas, we have 348 local posts that serve the mission of the VFW. Of those 348 local posts, over 100 Posts conduct charitable bingo. Charitable bingo is an important fund-raising activity for the VFW.
Local VFWs conduct charitable bingo to raise funds for charitable purposes, including supporting veterans and their families in times of need. In 2015, VFW Posts, conducting bingo at their local posts or as part of a Unit, distributed over $3.7 million to support our veterans and their families and our local communities. We ask Texas legislators to support charitable bingo this session and enact legislation that will increase charitable bingo revenue, which will, in turn, increase funds available for charitable distributions to our veterans and their families,” said Roy Grona, State Adjutant/Quartermaster, Texas VFW.
###
Conservative Texans for Charitable Bingo is a non-profit group of Texas charities and supporters and veterans who believe in helping fund local charity needs through the game of bingo as regulated by the state. More than 900 charities across Texas raise money for children, veterans, education, fine arts, special needs citizens, and more. Total charitable proceeds for the people of Texas now exceeds more than $1 billion dollars.