National Honor Society students at Kutztown High School will honor veterans by participating in two events: a Grace For Vets car wash on Nov. 11 and a wreath sale with Wreaths Across America beginning Nov. 5.
The Kutztown Car Wash will host the Grace For Vets event from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day. The high school students will work in two-hour shifts, offering free services to veterans and service personnel.
Lance Savidge, a two-year NHS student, and Katrina Billig, the NHS Treasurer, have had a big hand in helping with the car wash.
“I participated last year and will be there this year, too,” said Billig. “It’s great to talk to the vets and hear their stories. They love to talk.”
Savidge, the chair of the event, looks forward to helping out.
“I will be there all day,” said Savidge. “My responsibility is basically to get people to come out, to set up and to be there all day to make sure everything goes well.
Both Billig and Savidge will also take part in the Wreaths Across America sale, which begins Nov. 5.
The students will be selling wreaths to be ceremoniously laid at Indiantown Gap Cemetery on Dec. 13, National Wreaths Across America Day.
Sallie Sandler, a teacher at Kutztown and the advisor for the NHS, helped to organize the events and will be helping students with sales.
“We have a deal that for every two wreaths we sell, three will be placed at the cemetery,” said Sandler. “The students will go out with papers to sell, so they are responsible for the sales of the wreaths, and then, on Dec. 13, they will get to participate in a ceremony at the cemetery. We will be the team to lay the wreaths.”
This is the first year the NHS has taken part in this event.
“Next week, on Wednesday, we will be handing out the paperwork to the students and filling them in,” said Sandler. “The sale will run from next Wednesday until Dec. 13.”
In an effort to raise money for more wreaths, the students have been hosting “Donut Fridays” at the high school.
“They set up bright and early,” said Sandler. “The money from the donut sales will help us buy more wreaths to be places in honor of the veterans.”
The wreaths can be purchased through students, by contacting the school staff or at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org. The website offers an option of sponsoring a wreath through a local organization, and the Kutztown NHS may be chosen.
For more information on either of these events, or to purchase a wreath, contact Sallie Sandler at ssandler@ksd.org.