Englewood Herald > News
Students collect 1,000 gifts for troops
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| Students and staff members who are part of the Englewood High School Alternative Development and Academic Program Training gather to look at the gifts they collected for troops overseas. The class effort became an Englewood High School project and students from Charles Hay Elementary School helped out so there were more than 1,000 items packed up to be shipped overseas. Photo by Tom Munds |
By Tom Munds
John Pinkney’s suggestion to his Alternative Development and Academic Program Training classmates to collect gifts for men and women serving in the military resulted in a project that gathered up 18 boxes of items for the troops.
“John said he thought we should do something nice for the troops and suggested collecting gifts for them,” said Joline Davidson, Englewood High School ADAPT teacher. “The class thought it was a good idea and adopted it as a class project.”
But it didn’t stop there as the EHS student council heard about the collection and voted to make it as a school project and the students at Charles Hay Elementary School also collected donations for the project.
“I had no idea the project would have so much success,” Davidson said. “The number of boxes just kept growing. We also got help from the Englewood Walmart because they let our students set up a table outside their store on Veterans Day to collect items for the project.”
Vincent Talamantes, a member of the class, said he liked the idea of the project because he liked to get presents and thought it would be nice to get presents to give to soldiers.
“I knew we could collect some stuff but I was a little surprised at how nice people were to us and how they helped us out by donating to the project,” he said.
Classmate Nick Fritzler agreed that everyone was nice and supported the project.
“We collected a lot of stuff but I wasn’t surprised at how much we collected. Really, I wish we had collected even more gifts for the soldiers,” he said.
The project only lasted a few weeks but donations just seemed to be pouring in every day. Davidson said the No. 1 item donated was snacks and there were donations of more than 100 tubes of toothpaste and 100 toothbrushes.
The items collected filled 18 boxes and the next challenge was how to get the items to the troops and the answer came through the Blue Star Mothers’ Denver Chapter 3.
The Blue Star Mothers are an organization of mothers with children serving in military service and their mission is to support their children and all military personnel.
Davidson saw a newspaper article about the chapter’s project to send gifts to the troops and asking for donations. A phone call made the connection and the two groups joined forces.
The decision was to send the items to troops in Afghanistan and in Iraq. But some of the items, like chocolate and potato chips, wouldn’t survive the trip so those items will be donated to the USO at Denver International Airport. Like all USO facilities in airports, the one at DIA offers military personnel a place to relax and have a snack while they are waiting to make travel connections.
“We were surprised when we got the call that the Englewood High School class had collected 18 boxes of gifts for the troops,” said Lynne Hunt, publicity secretary for the local Blue Star Mother’s chapter. “It’s pretty cool because these special kids started a project and a lot of people pitched in to gather gifts to send to military personnel overseas.”
Hunt visited the class and brought along the pictures of some of the Blue Star Mother’s children serving in the military.
“The kids in the class really seemed to enjoy seeing the pictures of our kids who are in the service,” she said.
She accepted the donations and said the total collection totaled more than 1,000 items. The items will be prepared for shipment and, along with letters from the EHS students, and sent to individual military members serving in the two combat zones. The exception is one shipment of boxes that will go to a medical unit serving the wounded in those areas.
“The kids not only collected gift items for the troops, they also collected money and donated $159 to this project,” Hunt said. “That’s very nice and it’s important too because it costs $11 in postage per box and we have no source of funds.”
The Blue Star Mothers meet once a month and organize events to support men and women in the military service. For information on their organization, call 303-683-2676.
“John said he thought we should do something nice for the troops and suggested collecting gifts for them,” said Joline Davidson, Englewood High School ADAPT teacher. “The class thought it was a good idea and adopted it as a class project.”
But it didn’t stop there as the EHS student council heard about the collection and voted to make it as a school project and the students at Charles Hay Elementary School also collected donations for the project.
“I had no idea the project would have so much success,” Davidson said. “The number of boxes just kept growing. We also got help from the Englewood Walmart because they let our students set up a table outside their store on Veterans Day to collect items for the project.”
Vincent Talamantes, a member of the class, said he liked the idea of the project because he liked to get presents and thought it would be nice to get presents to give to soldiers.
“I knew we could collect some stuff but I was a little surprised at how nice people were to us and how they helped us out by donating to the project,” he said.
Classmate Nick Fritzler agreed that everyone was nice and supported the project.
“We collected a lot of stuff but I wasn’t surprised at how much we collected. Really, I wish we had collected even more gifts for the soldiers,” he said.
The project only lasted a few weeks but donations just seemed to be pouring in every day. Davidson said the No. 1 item donated was snacks and there were donations of more than 100 tubes of toothpaste and 100 toothbrushes.
The items collected filled 18 boxes and the next challenge was how to get the items to the troops and the answer came through the Blue Star Mothers’ Denver Chapter 3.
The Blue Star Mothers are an organization of mothers with children serving in military service and their mission is to support their children and all military personnel.
Davidson saw a newspaper article about the chapter’s project to send gifts to the troops and asking for donations. A phone call made the connection and the two groups joined forces.
The decision was to send the items to troops in Afghanistan and in Iraq. But some of the items, like chocolate and potato chips, wouldn’t survive the trip so those items will be donated to the USO at Denver International Airport. Like all USO facilities in airports, the one at DIA offers military personnel a place to relax and have a snack while they are waiting to make travel connections.
“We were surprised when we got the call that the Englewood High School class had collected 18 boxes of gifts for the troops,” said Lynne Hunt, publicity secretary for the local Blue Star Mother’s chapter. “It’s pretty cool because these special kids started a project and a lot of people pitched in to gather gifts to send to military personnel overseas.”
Hunt visited the class and brought along the pictures of some of the Blue Star Mother’s children serving in the military.
“The kids in the class really seemed to enjoy seeing the pictures of our kids who are in the service,” she said.
She accepted the donations and said the total collection totaled more than 1,000 items. The items will be prepared for shipment and, along with letters from the EHS students, and sent to individual military members serving in the two combat zones. The exception is one shipment of boxes that will go to a medical unit serving the wounded in those areas.
“The kids not only collected gift items for the troops, they also collected money and donated $159 to this project,” Hunt said. “That’s very nice and it’s important too because it costs $11 in postage per box and we have no source of funds.”
The Blue Star Mothers meet once a month and organize events to support men and women in the military service. For information on their organization, call 303-683-2676.
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