Cherokee Bend Students Help Veterans Organization

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Cherokee Bend Elementary students, teachers and school leaders recently participated in their second Wrapping for America's Warriors service project to help local veterans.

While this is Cherokee Bend's second year to participate, the partnership began at Brookwood Forest Elementary four years ago.

This year, the sixth-grade students at CBE hosted a donation drive and asked students to bring in brand-new coats, toboggans, scarves, gloves, and socks for our veterans. The students collected and wrapped more than 100 gifts for our local veterans.

Cherokee Bend's students collected enough items to provide every inpatient at the Birmingham VA Hospital a present for the holiday season. These gifts were presented to the Veterans Hospital Department of Voluntary Service Dec. 17.

Charmel Taylor, chief of voluntary service at Birmingham's VA Hospital, and Carla Dudley, assistant principal at Cherokee Bend Elementary, shared that this project is near and dear to their hearts because it allows their work paths to cross (they are sisters).

They were taught in their youth by their grandmother and mother, "Service to others is the rent we pay for our room on earth." That quote resonated and is a guiding principle for both of them personally and professionally.

They said they are grateful their professional worlds allow them to connect Cherokee Bend's leaders and learners with our nation's veterans.