Candidates manned a booth in the main commons throughout the school day where the student body was free to write as many cards as they wanted to.
“I think it is important [to write cards to veterans] because they deserve to be thanked repeatedly for risking their lives so ours could be safe,” sophomore Riley Widhalm said. “They should know that their actions were truly appreciated and that people honor what they did for our country. I think taking time to write them cute little cards is important if it means that they are happy.”
Once they gathered all the cards, the homecoming candidates drove to the VA Hospital after school and handed them out to the veterans. The candidates said the experience was gratifying.
“We had one guy who actually teared up when we told him we were from Rock Bridge and that we just wanted to say thank you for all he had done,” homecoming candidate senior Annie Rumpf said. “He kind of teared up and that was emotional for me too just to see his reaction. There were also guys…who joked around with us, talked with us about Rock Bridge and we talked about their grandkids and just their lives.”
Even though the candidates were only at the VA for about 45 minutes, in that short amount of time, many of the girls agreed handing out the cards was something special. All it took was a simple action to make many veterans’ faces light up and know that people to this day had not forgotten their sacrifices.
“I do think that people forget about the VA,” Rumpf said. “I mean everyone has their busy everyday lives, their packed schedules. It is easier to drive by the Veterans hospital and not think about the people inside but I think it is important to. Just going today, I feel like we made a difference for them and they have impacted me. Just the fact that we can take that little time out of our day to go see them makes such a big difference.”
By Stazi Prost
[nggaller id=146] Photos by Aniqa Rahman
