Welcome to the KOREAN WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA

This website is under construction at this time. UPDATED: April 14th , 2008

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KWVA DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA

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ASSIGNMENT

Mike Glazzy, National Member # LR05656, from California Santa Clara County Chapter 6, volunteered to get the Department of California formed and chartered.

He was subsequently assigned the task on January 19, 2007 by Louis Dechert, KWVA President, and Mike assumed the duty. See http://www.kwva.org/homepage_stories/i_hp_bb_070125_dept_ca.htm

THE WORK BEGINS

Mike came to his Chapter and asked for help. A meeting was held, and during the discussion about the department formation process, the idea of a website came up. It was decided that a website dedicated to the support of the new state department was in order. That seemed like such a good idea, they voted on having a chapter website, too.

THE WEBSITE

George Lawhon, National Member # LR18750, also from California Chapter 6, volunteered to build both websites, if they would pay for the software and the website domain registration. To his surprise, they voted yes.

A domain name was chosen, dcakwva.org. That particular letter sequence was structured so that any state could choose a like one with the letter 'd' followed by the snailmail two-letter sequence for states, followed by the letters kwva. The 'org' was chosen because of the non-profit status that would be sought. The KWVA, Inc. Bylaws do not presently spell out any of this, but the simple procedure is available for use and/or incorporation into the bylaws, and with or without that, any state can use it.

It was decided in the beginning to have a simple Department website, with just a few pages, with links sufficient to give transparency of intent and status of progress. The view was that after the Department was chartered and up and running, a better designed website with linked databases and well-formatted pages could be prepared. Content at that time would be different than that used during development.

DEVELOPING THE CHARTER PETITION PACKAGE

Initial contact was made with California Chapter Presidents; with inquiry as to their chapter's interest in joining the new department, and those chapter members who might wish to serve as department officers.

IRS applications for EIN (Employee Identification Number) and for tax-exempt status per Internal Revenue as a Code Section 501(c)19 nonprofit corporation were submitted January 24, 2007 . The Department was subsequently issued Employer Identification Number (EIN) 39-2050609 on 9 March 2007 .

California forms required for incorporation and for tax-exempt status were submitted January 26, 2007 , with a filing fee of $30.00 . We received notice from State of California that our Corporation filing date was March 5, 2007 , # 2976363.

IRS Form 1024, Application for Recognition of Exemption, under Section 501(c) was submitted May 20, 2007 , together with IRS Form 8178, User Fee for Exempt Organization Determination Letter Request, together with a $300.00 check for the user fee.

FTB Exemption Application Form 3500, for exemption from California income or franchise taxes was submitted on June 2, 2007 .

Finished Department of California Mission Statement, April 24, 2007 . Its purpose was to be the core of purpose for the charter preamble, and a source for bylaw content.

Began Department of California preamble and bylaws on May, 2007. There were more than a few sources used. We began with KWVA, Inc., using their Mission Statement and Bylaws as an initial format. Also, the Arizona , Florida & Texas KWVA Departments generously allowed us to post their bylaws our website, so that all interested parties could have access to their experience.

The KWVA Department of California preamble and bylaws were completed on July 15, 2007 .

Notified all California Chapter Presidents, on July 16, 2007 , via email, that we would presently being submitting our charter petition to the KWVA, Inc. Secretary. A copy of the Petition Form was attached, with a request for their acknowledgement that their chapter would (or would not) be participating in Department business. There are fourteen (14) chartered KWVA chapters in the California of California. They responded as follows:

>< These chapters either declined, were undecided, or did not respond.

Source for chapter information was obtained at http://www.kwva.org/info_dept_chapter.asp#Display

All California chapters were notified via email and/or phone, and this website of our intent to have a Department formation meeting on September 6, and were invited to attend, if possible, or to give their proxy approval of the petition.

FIRST DEPARTMENT MEETING

The first Department meeting was held in Sunnyvale, California on September 6, 2007.   Sponsoring Chapter 6, Santa Clara, held a special meeting, at which they turned it over to Mike Glazzy, Department Organizer.

Department business conducted was:

• Interim Department officers were elected and sworn in..
• Bylaws were proposed and approved by vote.
• A Department Charter Petition was presented and approved.

Five (5) chapters signed up for the charter effort:

• Chapter 6        Santa Clara County
• Chapter 7        Sonora Tuolumne County
• Chapter 203    War Dogs
• Chapter 211    Charles N. Bikakis (Bakersfield)
• Chapter 235    Santa Barbara

On September 10, 2007, the Petition for Charter, with required documentation, was transmitted to the National Secretary for review and approval.

On October 10, 2007, we announced on the Home Page of the Department website that our petition had been received, was in good order, and barring unforseen circumstances, we would receive the Charter for the KWVA California State Department at the Annual KWVA Convention in Reno.   

DEPARTMENT ACTIONS YET TO BE COMPLETED

• Approval of Petition for Charter.
• Grant of Charter
• First Annual Department Meeting, Spring 2008

SOURCES USED FOR THIS HISTORY

REFERENCE: KWVA National Home Page:  www.kwva.org

REFERENCE: KWVA Department of California Home Page: http://www.dcakwva.org

REFERENCE: California KWVA Chapter 6, Santa Clara County Home Page: http://www.ch6.dcakwva.org/

REFERENCE: Article 5, "Departments and Chapters" of the "2005 Charter and Bylaws of the Korean War Veterans Association, Incorporated" Ratified by membership on October 5, 2005 . It can be downloaded from KWVA Bylaws

REFERENCE: The Standard Procedure Manual procedure titled "KWVA, Inc. Procedures For Development of New Chapter or State Department" (No Date) was used for guidelines in the KWVA Department of California charter process. It can be downloaded from KWVA Standard Procedures Manual

DEPARTMENT ORGANIZER: Mike Glazzy, KWVA Department of California, at mglazzy@sbcglobal.net

PRESIDENT, KWVA Chapter 6, Santa Clara County, at waltnmari@earthlink.net

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT WEBMASTER: George Lawhon, at george@lawhon.org