They got the news in the car

Sitting together in the restaurant parking lot, junior Sitney David watched her brother answer the phone. Before this, he never thought he’d get cleared to go into the military.

“You have until Monday to pack everything up, because you’re going,” the voice on the other line said. His heart filled with pride. He was going to be a Marine.

Every day, soldiers across America leave their families to fight for their country. Even then, their sacrifices remain overlooked. David and her Teen Leadership class wanted to change this with the Care Campaign.

“We started talking about how people in the military are obviously heroes, and what made them heroes,” David said. “From that, our teacher brought it up, and we all just decided that we were going to make it a huge deal.”

 The class began to collect small things like socks, shampoo, drink mix, and baby wipes to send overseas. It may not seem like such a big deal to civilians, but to soldiers living in harsh conditions and enduring training, it means the world.

“When they’re out there, they miss home, and so the best thing to do is get care packages of stuff that’s from home, and necessities that we take for granted … to get a sense of home back to them,” junior Grayson Barger said.

Being away from their families for so long takes an emotional toll. David and her family know this fact all too well. She recalled her brother feeling as if everybody forgot about him, and that nobody cared.

“The fact is, he’s out here risking his life,” David said. “For him to think that nobody cares about him when he’s out here saving us, that’s crazy to me.”

David stressed the hardships soldiers face. She knows that most kids don’t give their situation a second thought.

“When you go home today after school, you will go home, you will sit on the couch, you will watch TV,” David said. “When my brother goes home, what he’s doing right now is he wakes up, he works out, he does horrible things, uses horrible bathrooms. His bed is completely nasty, it’s disgusting. He doesn’t even have a pillow. The pillow he uses is like paper, almost.”

While the campaign is focused on the soldiers, students also hope to make a positive impact on the school. Senior Ashley Kleinsorge believes that the project is rewarding for all.

“I think it’s a good idea because not a lot of people our age really know how to give back to society, and I think this is a good way to practice that,” Kleinsorge said. “I think it’s benefiting for us and for the people who are receiving the donations.”

Teen Leadership is planning on holding an ongoing campaign with future classes. They will continue to take donations in Coach Jacobs’ room and at the front of the school.

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