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NEIGHBORS
Grant will support Valley students chronicling veterans, their stories
Thunderbirds Charities, Veterans Heritage Project team up on project
(Photo provided by Veterans Heritage Project)
Pictured are World War I and Korean War veteran Bill Kummer and family.
(Photo provided by Veterans Heritage Project)
A look at a book signing line at a recent event.
(Photo provided by Veterans Heritage Project)
Veteran Tim Qualters shows Elliott Nielsen his dress blues.
Posted
ON YOUR CALENDAR
What: Veterans Heritage Project community event
When: 1 p.m. Sunday, April 28
Where: Sheraton Downtown Phoenix, 340 N. 3rd St., Phoenix
Cost: Free
More Information: veteransheritage.org/bookreception
About Veterans Heritage Project
Founded in 2004 and established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2009, its mission is to connect students with veterans in order to honor veterans, preserve America’s heritage, and develop future leaders. VHP facilitates an after-school program impacting 13,000 students, while interviewing up to 300 veterans annually. Their first-person accounts of history are preserved in the Library of Congress and through the student publication.
Thunderbirds Charities
Thunderbirds Charities is a nonprofit formed in 1986 to distribute money raised through the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament. The mission of Thunderbirds Charities is to assist children and families, help people in need and improve the quality of life in our communities. The organization’s giving is directed toward organizations based or with a significant presence in Arizona. The Thunderbirds were founded in 1937 with the mission of promoting the Valley of the Sun through sports. Visit thunderbirdscharities.org.
Special to Independent Newsmedia
Thunderbirds Charities awarded a $15,000 grant awarded to Veterans Heritage Project.
Grant money is supporting the organization’s after-school civic and character education program. Middle school and high school students learn about history, citizenship, service, and leadership by interviewing veterans and documenting their service stories, the significance and impact on their lives and careers, and resulting life lessons, a press release explains.
Students write and publish each veteran’s story in the student publication “Since You Asked,” and preserve the oral history video in the Library of Congress.
The book includes war and peacetime service stories from veterans of all eras or service branches, in addition to a selected theme for the year. The theme for the 20th anniversary is “Since You Asked XX: A Salute to Gold Star Families.”
A Gold Star Family is defined by legislation as a "parent, spouse, sibling or child of members of the Armed Forces who died as a result of their service during a period of war." The legacies of 28 Gold Star experiences are among the 244 veterans’ stories preserved this year.
Students will honor the interviewed veterans and Gold Star Families at a free community event on Sunday, April 28 at the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix, 340 N. 3rd St. The public is welcome and will have the opportunity to purchase a book, and meet veterans during a book signing.
