The Ironton post of the AMVETS will receive a national award for its community service.

Next month, Post 5293 Commander Carroll Stamper will go to Hudson, Ohio to pick up the Robert Gomulinski Community Service Award, which is awarded to one AMVETS post in the U.S.

The AMVETS is a group of veterans whose mission is to help other veterans. Although the group was started after World War II, Post 5293 started in October 2002 and now has about 80 members.

Many people recognize the group from their clover flower sales, which recently concluded.

The groups mission is simple: Make sure veterans get help when they need it.

Commander Carroll Stamper said it is sometimes something as simple as clothes or more immediate needs like getting the gas turned back on at someone’s house.

The AMVETS does nothing but volunteer work. They make sure that vets in nursing homes are remembered on holidays.

“A lot of them don’t have any family, so we help them out,” Stamper said. “It is veterans helping veterans.”

Post 5293 has a service officer that comes in twice a month to make sure veterans get the government services they need.

“In October, he is going to start coming in three times a month,” Stamper said. “He helps with claims and forms.”

The post also marches in parades and has an annual Americanism essay contest for local students. Last year, three Ironton students won first place and advanced to district where they won. One student won on the state level and went to the national competition.

All the post’s activities are recorded in scrapbooks, which are sent into the state leadership and are the criteria for the Robert Gomulinski Community Service Award.

Stamper said that it is community support that helps them achieve their mission.

“For the past four years, we have won the Clover Drive over all the other posts in the state,” Stamper said. “We get great community support, we are awfully proud of the community for supporting us.”

Post 5293 is located at 315 South Third Street in Ironton.