New Jersey's community directory a way get Legion brand out while providing a service

In 1971, American Legion Post 469 in Longport, N.J., took over the responsibility of putting together the Longport Directory, which includes the name, address and phone number of residents of the Jersey Shore borough.

The sale of ads and space in the directory help fund the various programs Post 469 conducts throughout the year. But it’s not just a fundraiser for the post. It’s also providing a service to the community – and to the many tourists who visit the area during the summer months.

“Longport has maybe 1,000 people in the winter months,” Post 469 Commander Larry Pacentrilli said. “But it’s mostly people from Philadelphia and New York who come down during the summer. We have 5,000 to 6,000 (tourists). So, this is kind of thing that they can keep by the phone.

“And this is mostly an elderly community. So, a lot of them still remembers when they used to look in a phone book, rather than go to a computer or have it already in their cell phones.”

In addition to listing contact info for local residents, the directory also includes information such as flood hazard safety tips and emergency contact numbers, dates of community events, trash and recycling regulations, and more.

The directory is given to residents at no cost prior to July 4 each year. Local businesses and residents are given the opportunity to purchase advertising or sponsorships in the directory.

“People will say, ‘Oh, I saw your company in the Longport Directory’,” Pacentrilli said. “So, it’s really not hard to find advertisers.”

Pacentrilli said proceeds from the directory provide some financial assistance to the post’s annual Wounded Warrior Week, when the post provides an all-expense paid, week-long vacation for a disabled veteran and his or her family. But the ad sales go mainly to funding other post programs and sponsorships, such as Longport’s Memorial Day parade and other remembrances events, as well as providing cash awards for winners of the post’s Constitution Essay Contest and Character and Citizenship Awards presented to local students.

But for Post 469, the directory also a chance to get to know its community while providing a service.

“People get to know us this way. I can’t tell you how many people we’d never meet or get to talk to if it weren’t for the Longport Directory – business-wise and residents,” Pacentrilli said. “It’s so people in Longport know there is such a thing as The American Legion and that we do things to help veterans. And we help the community out. It helps get our brand out there and make people feel good about us, as well as us feeling good about helping the community.”