The student news site of Bernards High School

The Crimson

The student news site of Bernards High School

The Crimson

The student news site of Bernards High School

The Crimson

Veterans Outreach Club organizes tribute ceremony for local veterans

Veterans+Outreach+Club+organizes+tribute+ceremony+for+local+veterans

Seniors Jack Topping and Luke Stauffer, disappointed by the very little measures taken to give back to our Veterans, both decided that they were going to make a change.

In December 2015, they decided to form a group called Veterans Outreach, that became a club at our school in March 2016. The main goal of their club is to raise awareness for veterans issues and serve our local veteran and active duty military community.

The Veterans Outreach Club has held multiple fundraisers to give back, including the sale of red, white, and blue lollipops, both last year and this year, organizing community service activities for the last ten months, and donating to Jeans for Troops, where they assisted in raising $600 from both student and faculty donations.

Veterans Outreach has been recognized multiple times by organizations and other veterans, such as the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning, famous veteran Tank Machine, and 22KILL, a group that raises awareness for veteran suicide prevention.

Not only does this club help raise awareness and give back to veterans in need, it is also a great way for students to give back, and earn community service.

This year, the Veterans Outreach Club attended a flag ceremony with the V.F.W. on November 10th to honor veterans who served our country.

The ceremony took place on Thursday, November 10th, and began at 8 AM at the Bernardsville Post Office. Three senior members of the Veterans Outreach Club, President Jack Topping, Vice President Luke Stauffer and Recording Secretary Timmy Lallis, attended the ceremony.

The VFW started the event by raising the flag in front of members of the public, members of the Heartworks organization that ran the Veterans Week ceremonies from November 7th to November 11th, BHS Principal Mr. Neigel, and the Veterans Outreach Club representatives.

After the flag was properly and respectfully raised, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all attendees shortly afterwards. Following the flag raising, Mrs. McDowell of Heartworks read a poem regarding the sacrifices of Veterans throughout our history.

After Mrs. McDowell’s poem, Jack Topping gave a speech where he thanked the veterans for their service and talked about the importance of Veterans Day. In his speech, Jack said, “We cannot be grateful for anything unless we are aware.

This same concept applies for veterans and their sacrifices: Unless we are truly aware of what they have done for all of us, we cannot be truly grateful.”

He ended his speech saying, “I am honored to be a part of this club, this high school, and this local community that strives for excellence when giving back to our veterans.”

At the end of Jack’s speech, he presented a 11×14 woodburned plaque with red, white and blue paint in the shape of an American flag as a token of appreciation.

After the ceremony, they continued to go inside the Post Office, while Heartworks served breakfast to the Veterans.

After thanking the veterans for all they’ve done, Jack said, “It is a surreal experience having a World War II veteran thank me for speaking, when really, there are no words to describe how grateful I am to him for all he has done serving our country.”

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