Recently from November 1st to November 3rd at Welsh Valley Middle School three teachers organized an event called Treats for Troops which resulted in over 800 pounds of candy raised for troops, and in comparison, 800 pounds is about as heavy as a grizzly bear! How did they raise all that candy? These three teachers; Mr. Gari, a 7th grade social studies teacher, Mr. Sullivan, a 8th grade science teacher and Ms. Sullivan, a Spanish teacher, worked together to create an event that donated delicious treats for veterans to enjoy. Everyone knows that after you spend hours walking in the dark to trick-or-treat, you don’t love all your candy. In fact, you won’t eat some of it. So these teachers figured, why not donate that unwanted candy to veterans to show our gratitude. But why do you think candy was chosen? I mean, why not some real food, something with nutritional value or protein?
“The veterans asked for three things,” According to Mr. Chris Gari, “Candy, lotion and baby powder. We figured it’s Halloween so candy might be the easiest thing.” The candy drive is actually exactly how it sounds, kids brought in their Halloween candy to send to troops who rarely get to enjoy these luxuries. These food drives usually last about three days, which means that about 850 pounds were raised in only three days! All you had to do to participate was bring your candy in and dump it in the bucket labeled with your grade.
The last time they had done this candy drive was over a decade ago, but everyone was glad to hear it was back! However, throughout the year, the school does other things to help too, such as writing letters to troops, calling veterans with a class, more charity events, etc. When Mr. Gari was asked why he is so into helping veterans he replied by explaining how he had a friend who participated in the vietnam war, he didn’t tell anyone because of their reactions making them feel like traitors and not heroes.
Always remember to thank veterans and current serving members. No matter what, a simple thank you could mean so much to them. You should tell them how grateful you are because if they didn’t fight, we wouldn’t be here. If you would like to be more involved in causes for veterans there will always be some event or fundraisers nearby.
