To date, 1,004 Vets/Caregivers/Volunteers have taken this trip with us over the past five years (ten trips) to see these Memorials. If you are a WWII or Korean War or Vietnam/Vietnam Era Vet in Shelby County (Ohio), contact us to see how you too can join us on the "Honor Bus."
As we get closer to our next trip to Washington (May 20-22), we have received many very generous donations toward the expenses of this venture. Individual donors have written checks to sponsor Vets, with these checks ranging from $1,000.00 to $10.00. They have come from all points on the compass and people from all walks of life. In light of this economy, this is extremely gratifying and appreciated by the Committee. These make us want to have an even more special trip for these Veterans and their Caregivers.
Along those lines, I want to just highlight two special groups who have helped us this year (again).
First, the Kid's Care and Student Council Clubs at Emerson Elementary School in Sidney, with the help and guidance of their teachers, took us under their wings and set out to raise enough money to sponsor one Vet's trip ($355.00). Well, they got so involved in this worthwhile project, they ended up sponsoring 4 Vet's trips!!! These pictures are from the presentation they made to us the other day at their school. These 2nd and 3rd graders will probably not ever know how much they have given these Vets, but we will. And now, YOU will.
In addition to the money they raised, we were also presented with a box of letters the students had written to the Vets. These are used in our "Mail Call" activities during the trip.
2nd and 3rd Graders from Emerson Elementary School.
It just so happens that the nickname for the Emerson School is "The Eagles." How ironic it was that we concluded the assembly with the presentation of a cane to the students for their display case. The canes are carved by the Miami Valley Wood Carvers, Assn. and given to the Vets prior to the trip. The "head" of the cane is carved in the shape of an Eagle.
Jim presents an "Eagle Cane" to the students.
The second group that pitched in was the 2011 Riverside H.S. Powerlifting Team (shown below). This is a group of students from Riverside High School, located in DeGraffe, OH who have spent the better part of this past year collecting scrap metal and selling it, with the proceeds going to us, and to cover some of their expenses for the upcoming "World Meet" for powerlifters of their age group. They qualified for this meet, which is coming up later this Spring, and according to their coach, Mr. Stewart, stand a good chance of placing some of their lifters in the top slots. This would be unprecedented for a school their size.
Click on this picture to see a full size shot.
Just like the Emerson students, they too raised enough to sponsor 4 Vets. That's over $1,400.00, which was also money taken away from their expense fund. That meant they had to work that much harder to cover this donation.
As I said earlier, this is just an example of two groups who saw the value of honoring Veterans and went about making it happen. What a great example these two groups are for other young people.
I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. (Maya Angelou) Hooah
