In the past few months, there has been a lot of effort put in to help out the troops overseas and give them our support. The first motion made to support the troops was a letter writing campaign which advisories participated in if they chose to. Then there was a school-wide push to help a soldier come home for a friends funeral. The goal was to get each student of Walpole High to give one dollar to pay for his flight. The most recent act of support is the friends of the 182nd infantry. The purpose of this fund is for students to give their old backpacks and lightly used school supplies to the troops in order to help Afghani children.
The two programs going on right now are Operation Every Soldier Counts and Operation Backpack. Operation Every Soldier Counts has a goal of sending 1 letter to the 700 soldiers in the MA Infantry National Guard 182nd Battalion, and any soldiers who have connections to anyone in Walpole. Junior John Griffin says “We will be asking students to write letters of encouragement and appreciation to the students.” 200 letters have already been collected.
Operation Backpack allows students to donate either their backpack, lightly used school supplies, or both. Items that do not require batteries or electricity are preferred. “New or used supplies can be donated–this project is something anyone can participate in, regardless of wealth,” says Griffin. If someone is not going to be using school supplies in the future, he or she can donate it to the cause. There are bins around the school to collect any donations. To donate a backpack, students must sign backpack “pledges” which say the backpack will be donated at the end of the year. Students who will not be using their backpacks next year are encouraged to participate in Operation Backpack. The first letters from Operation Every Soldier Counts and the supplies donated through Operation Backpack will be sent out at the end of this school year, and hopefully during next year as well.
Although the recent death of Osama Bin Laden stirred up a sense of pride in many Americans, Griffin says “I would much rather students help out because the desire to help out Americans serving overseas, learn about Afghanistan and the war we are fighting there, and help bring peace to the region,” and not because there is added coverage by the media now the Bin Laden is dead.
The goal of the projects is to promote interest in the welfare of the soldiers overseas. Soldiers now are trying to aid a damaged country overseas. “We want students to see that what the soldiers are doing now in Afghanistan is often humanitarian in nature–passing out food, blankets, and school supplies; building relations with local leaders; combating fundamentalism and terror,” says Griffin. The goal is to support the soldiers–not the war.
All students are welcome to write letters for Operation Every Soldier Counts. Operation Every Soldier Counts also has information tables set up at lunch. The students manning the tables can answer any questions regarding what the letters should say. Operation Backpack is collecting all school supplies except for books and battery powered or electric supplies. There is still time to donate supplies and write letters–the projects end on the last day of school.
