Timothy Lutheran School & Boy Scout Troop #44 Support Our Veterans - Spring 2019

This year Kids4Vets received hundreds of generous toiletry donations from both the Timothy Lutheran Preschool, in Blue Springs Missouri and Boy Scout Troop #44. This Spring, a group of Kids4Vets student volunteers and myself visited the Timothy Lutheran school and had the opportunity to talk to and answer questions from an amazing group of preschool students. The students and staff of Timothy Lutheran also made a generous donation of toiletries to Kid4Vets to hand out at the Spring Stand Down. We were also honored to receive donations from Boy Scout Troop #44, out of Sweet Springs, Missouri.

In spite of the many donations and the many veterans we were able to support, this Stand Down was bitter-sweet for my family. In the fall of 2018, I lost one of my favorite people and favorite veterans, my grandfather Lt. Richard Marsh. My grandfather served as a Naval Engineer in the Vietnam War, and instilled in me not only the importance of volunteer-work but also an appreciation for the sacrifice of veterans and their families. It was only fitting that the Spring Stand Down this year, would coincide with my beloved grandfather's Military interment at the Springfield Veterans Cemetery, in Springfield, Missouri. I asked my grandfather to write a blog for Kids4Vets about what Memorial Day means to him. In this blog he wrote, "Memorial Day brings back memories of our times together and how grateful we are for all we we have here [...]". Memorial Day and the Stand Down will always be a memory of the amazing time I've had with my grandfather. Every year, he and my grandmother would drive nearly three hours to come to the Stand Down to support me. I will never forget the sacrifices my grandfather made for our country and my family. He always has, and will continue to be, one of my greatest mentors and teachers. If not for him Kids4Vets would not exist today.