Veterans Caucus
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The CDP Veterans Caucus gives out the awards listed below. Each year we ask for nominations from our membership .... we want to hear all about who our membership think deserves each of these awards!!  Members will be notified when the nomination period is open for the 2020 year.
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Note:  The Chairs Award will be selected by the CDP Veterans Caucus Chair. 
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Award Descriptions and Criteria


The CDP Veterans Caucus gives out the following Awards:
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VETERAN OF THE YEAR - This award is given annually to the Veteran deemed by a majority vote of the Executive Board to have served the mission of the Caucus, directly or indirectly, with circumstances found to have been meritorious and distinguished in nature.

MEMBER OF THE YEAR - This award is given annually to the caucus member deemed by a majority vote of the Executive Board to have served the mission of the Caucus, directly or indirectly, with circumstances found to have been meritorious and distinguished in nature.

VETERANS ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR - This award is given annually to the Veterans Organization deemed by a majority vote of the Executive Board to have served the mission of the Caucus, directly or indirectly, with circumstances found to have been meritorious and distinguished in nature.

 JOHN F. KENNEDY AWARD - This award is given annually to the Elected Official deemed by a majority vote of the Executive Board to have served the mission of the Caucus, directly or indirectly, with circumstances found to have been meritorious and distinguished in nature.

HARRY TRUMAN AWARD - This award is given annually to the Civilian Appointed Official deemed by a majority vote of the Executive Board to have served the mission of the Caucus, directly or indirectly, with circumstances found to have been meritorious and distinguished in nature.

CHAIR’S AWARD - This award is given annually to the person or organization deemed by the Chair of the Caucus to have served the mission of the Caucus, directly or indirectly, with circumstances found to have been meritorious and distinguished in nature.


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2016 Award Winners
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VETERAN OF THE YEAR
State Senator Josh Newman


​While working as the Executive Director of the non-profit Armed Force to Work Force, Josh Newman volunteered his time as 1st Vice Chair of the Veterans Caucus and Chair of the Veteran Caucus's Legislative Committee, and won the 29th Senate District race in November 2016 against all odds giving California Senate Democrats the 2/3 super-majority they need to approve tax increases, overturn the Governor’s vetoes, suspend legislative rules, and pass emergency legislation without needing any support from Republicans.



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VETERANS ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR 
​Operation: Care & Comfort

 
Co-Founder  -  ​Julie DeMaria

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The all-volunteer non-profit organization, Operation Care and Comfort (OCC), was created in 2003 and supports military troops stationed overseas and their families and veterans with the following:

  • CARE PACKAGES – OCC sends care packages to all branches serving overseas to "adopted" units of deployed U.S. military service members serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflict regions.  They’re currently supporting 200 units on a monthly basis and since 2003, has shipped over 1 million pounds of care packages to military personnel
 
  • TICKETS FOR TROOPS – Distributed tens of thousands of donated tickets to military families and veterans to attend professional sporting events as a result of OCC working with professional sports teams, event venues and season ticket holders in the Bay Area 
 
  • ADOPT A MILITARY FAMILY – The Adopt A Military Family allows individuals, organizations and companies the opportunity to anonymously "adopt" a military family throughout the year

A massive 97% of financial donations to OCC are spent on military troops and families; only 3% is spent for overhead (for storage unit, accounting services and annual audit).  

JOHN F. KENNEDY AWARD (Legislator of the Year)  
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 Congresswoman Julia Brownley
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Congresswoman Brownley introduced the "Honor Our National Guard Act" (H.R. 6301) that would prohibit the recoupment of bonuses given to National Guard members, and would require the Department of Defense to repay those who had already returned their bonuses.  While her bill did not make it out of Committee, the contents of her bill were incorporated into the Defense Authorization Bill that President Obama signed into law on 12/23/16; and, 

Congresswoman Brownley introduced the "Female Veterans Suicide Prevention Act" (H.R. 2915), which was signed into law by President Obama on 6/30/16.  H.R. 2915 requires the VA to identify mental health and suicide prevention programs that are the most effective for at-risk women veterans.  The suicide rate of women veterans is 6 times higher than non-veteran women, and for women ages 18-29, the rate is 12 times higher than non-veteran women yet the VA never researched the problems and solutions for women veterans; only for men veterans. 

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​CAUCUS CHAIR AWARD
Barbi Appelquist

As a Co-Director of California Veterans and Military Families for Hillary, Barbi Appelquist's leadership over the course of the primary and general election in 2016 resulted in the following:
- Increased volunteers from 30 to almost 300 within a few months (Barbi is a volunteer also)
  • - Organized a convoy of approximately 60 volunteers from across California to drive/fly to       Henderson, Nevada for GOTEV (Get Out The Early Vote), knocking on over 2000 doors in one weekend; this helped Hillary win Nevada
  • - Provided 4 grassroots campaign training sessions for veterans & military families across California 
  • ​- Targeted veteran and military family messaging 
  • - Sent weekly updates to volunteers about general campaign updates 



PAST RECIPIENTS OF AWARDS
  • 2015 Veterans Caucus Awards:
2015 Veteran of the Year - KIM MARTINEZ
2015 Veterans Organization of the Year - NO EXCEPTIONS
2015 John F. Kennedy Award - SECRETARY OF STATE ALEX PADILLA
2015 Caucus Chair's Award - CHEF BASIL KIMBREW

2014 Veterans Caucus Awards:
2014 Veteran of the Year - SAGE FOX
2014 Veterans Organization of the Year - CALIFORNIA MILITARY DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
2014 John F. Kennedy Award - SECRETARY OF STATE ALEX PADILLA
2014 Harry Truman Award - CALVET DEPUTY SECRETARY MIRTHA VILLARREAL-YOUNGER 
2014 Caucus Chair's Award - CHRIS WILSON OF CALVET

2013 Veterans Caucus Awards:
2013 Veteran of the Year - KATE WEBER
2013 Veterans Organization of the Year - PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS
2013 John F. Kennedy Award - JACKIE SPEIER
2013 Harry Truman Award - DEPUTY SECRETARY LINDSEY SIN 
2013 Caucus Chair's Award - SHAWN TERRIS
Certificate of Achievements:
Ian Arnold, 2014
Ralph Cansimbe, 2014
Scott Dick, 2013
Bob Handy, 2013
Roger Hart, 2013
Emma Harper, 2014

Donald Hill, 2014
Dana Little, 2014

Reid Milburn, 2014
Apolonio Munoz, 2014
Karen Marie Otter, 2013
Robert Padilla, 2014
Mister Phillips, 2013
Kelly Rivas, 2014
Sacramento LGBT Center, 2013

Paul Stichick, 2014
Shawn Terris, 2013
Brian Travis, 2014

Cres Vellucci, 2014
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Veterans Caucus
California Democratic Party

Contact Us at CDPVeteransCaucus@Gmail.com


ADDRESS

Upcoming Events

General Meeting  - 2019 CDP Convention
November 15/16, 2019
Details TBD
 

Paid for by the California Democratic Party ~ Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee
Copyright (c) 2019, California Democratic Party
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Election Results - June 2019
    • Caucus Information
    • Executive Board
    • Veterans Clubs
    • Veterans in Office
  • Meeting Schedule
  • Committees
    • Bylaws Committee
    • Communications Committee
    • Disabled Veterans Committee
    • Legislative Committee
    • Organizational Dev. Comm.
    • Underserved Veterans Committee
    • Deported Veterans Committee
  • Join
    • Regular Members
    • Life Members
  • Resources
    • Agendas
    • Bylaws
    • Minutes
    • Plank
    • Platform Effective 2018
    • Register to Vote
    • Veterans Discounts!
  • Contact Us