A food drive for Veterans Day
November 6, 2008
By Laura Geggel
From World War II to Vietnam and the Korean War to Afghanistan, Americans have enlisted in the armed forces to serve their country. With Veterans Day approaching, Kim Wagner’s fifth-grade class at North Bend Elementary is honoring veterans by organizing a Veterans Day assembly and contributing to the local Thank-a-GI food and supply drive.
Kim Wagner and her fifth-grade class stand in front of their fundraising boxes at North Bend Elementary.
“We get the day off from school and most people just go ‘it’s a day off,’” fifth-grade student Kelly Corder said. “We need to remember the sacrifices they made for us.”
Wagner’s class has practiced their respective roles in the assembly since the beginning of October for their daily social studies unit.
Caleb Mitchell is reading a paragraph about Veterans Day about “what they’ve done for us,” he said.
Kelsey Frederick will recite “The Veteran,” a poem written by Wagner herself. The teacher also composed the ABC’s of Veterans Day, in which each letter stands for a feat accomplished by U.S. Veterans.
“I’m honored and proud to pay tribute to the veterans,” said Wagner, whose classes have organized the Veterans Day assembly for more than a decade. Often, her students have family members who have served or are serving in the armed forces. Wagner changes names and places in songs and skits the children perform to personalize the day.
“I think it makes it more real to them,” Wagner said.
Every year, North Bend Elementary invites local veterans to its Veterans Day assembly. This year, the assembly will be held in the gymnasium at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 10. State Representative Jay Rodne, whose daughter is in fifth grade at North Bend Elementary, will speak at the assembly.
Rodne, who is still a reservist, served on active duty from 1989-93 in the U.S. Marine Corps. He went to Kuwait in 1991, served in Somalia from 1992-3 and spent six months in Iraq in 2003.
“I’ll be talking about service and appreciating the freedoms we have,” Rodne said. He will talk at the Mount Si High School Veterans Day assembly, before speaking at North Bend Elementary.
In addition to the assembly, Wagner’s class is organizing a drive for food and supplies benefiting veterans. North Bend resident Christine Chartier started the Thank-a-GI organization in 2003 and regularly sends care packages to soldiers and veterans. She coordinates with Baker’s Angels, founded by North Bend resident Donna Padilla, whose son was wounded in Iraq. Baker’s Angels bakes cookies for wounded soldiers at Madigan Army Medical Center.
“I like to give them to the marine’s moms groups,” Chartier said. “They find those soldiers that don’t get a lot of boxes. And they know — they find out who doesn’t get letters or cards or boxes all of the time.”
Wagner’s class is collecting supplies ranging from non-perishable food to dental hygiene. The collection boxes are positioned at the entrance to North Bend Elementary.
Fifth-grade student Ryan Hyland gave a poignant answer for why people should donate to America’s veterans.
“So that they get help and support from us,” Hyland said. “So they don’t think they’ve been forgotten.”
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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