SCVTHS Students Help Organize a Drive at Lyons VA Hospital

For their community service project, Kushi, Saanvi, and Shreya decided that the best way to get in touch with their community would be to aid veteran patients at the Lyons VA Medical Center, where many former military members reside. The team went about serving the hospital in two ways. First, Kushi, Saanvi, and Shreya organized a drive at Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School to collect various items and supplies to bring to the patients at Lyons. The team partnered with the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) to get in touch with Lyons and take note of what supplies to bring to the patients. The students targeted their drive toward collecting clothing as well as sanitary supplies. In addition, the students collected many items for the veterans to use in leisure, including books, brainteasers, and board games. Mr. Graf, the team’s U.S. History teacher at Somerset VoTech and the VFW’s 2024 National Teacher of the Year, aided the team in spreading the word about the drive to students and staff. Together, the team was able to gather many boxes of clothing items and supplies to bring to Lyons.
In addition, Kushi, Saanvi, and Shreya decided to extend the opportunity of assisting veterans to their classmates by having them make holiday cards to deliver to the patients. Many SkillsUSA members participated in the letter-writing process, creating two cards per person to contribute to the team’s competition. Members hand wrote sentimental letters that thanked the veterans for their efforts in fighting for the nation and wished them a happy holiday season—by the end of the drive and card-writing, Kushi, Saanvi, and Shreya had collected several boxes of sanitary supplies, clothing items, games, and many letters for the veterans at Lyons. The team decided, however, that they wanted to make a further impact on the hospital community by hand-delivering each item.
On December 19th, 2024, Kushi, Saanvi, and Shreya proceeded to visit the Lyons VA Medical Center to hand-deliver the items to patients. The team got a chance to interact with the hospital patients face-to-face and learn about their experiences as military members. The team valued this encounter because it allowed them to learn about the heroes of the United States and how to better service them in their time of need. They also got a chance to personally express their gratitude and thanks to the veterans for all their efforts in serving their country. Kushi, Saanvi, and Shreya noted items patients said they would appreciate for more drives in the future. Overall, the team appreciated this experience and was grateful to have had the opportunity to visit the veterans at Lyons. Kushi, Saanvi, and Shreya were happy to have given back to their community in this manner and thankful to have met the veterans in person to learn more about how to better serve them in the future.