- Columbia Public Schools
- More than Me
More Respect for our Soldiers
It’s not the best feeling when a family member or close friend is not home for a special holiday. It’s even more disappointing for that family member to miss the holiday. Soldiers are often stationed away from family and friends and often cannot come home on weekends. (The average deployment for an army soldier is 12-18 months according to Yahoo Answers). Some soldiers at a Naval Base in Bahrain make an effort to celebrate the holidays with their own base Christmas tree and by singing Christmas carols (About Careers). What if we took hold of that situation and fixed it by making those working family members feel better about not physically seeing their family? By fixing this problem we could increase the happiness of all those not accompanied by their family or friends who serve in the military. We could also lift the spirits of our soldiers and inspire them even more to serve our country. Connecting with our soldiers is a way to express appreciation for what they do. How might we do this? I’ll tell you.
I think I could fix this problem because I have past experience with the absence of a friend or family member who served and know others in the same predicament. “Roughly 38,000 American service members remain in Afghanistan,” reports CBS News. I know how sad it would make me to be away from my family during the holidays; this gives me empathy for other people.
To explain my idea, I have to first tell a story. One time, when I was younger, I went to the Food Bank with my mother. When I got there, a person came up to us and brought us to another group of volunteers. Then he gave us a speech on what we were doing (wrapping hotdogs), how it would help, and why us volunteering was helping the cause. Then he brought us into another room where there were more volunteers and a huge bin of raw hotdogs and next to that were long, white, tables. The man gave us the directions on how to wrap the hot dogs and where to put them afterward. They assigned us a table to work at where we would wrap the hotdog and pass it to the next person. Then they would put it in a box. After one box was filled with wrapped hotdogs, it would be taken out and given to other places where they serve people who can’t afford food.
This volunteering experience helped to establish the plan for my project. Similar to the Food Bank, I would have other experienced volunteers explain our cause, give directions, and explain the end result. Then I would have a station where volunteers would make uplifting cards with crafting materials and at another station I would have a mailing/packing station. After everything is stamped and packaged up, we would designate people to take them to be mailed.
I believe I could tackle this problem by meeting up with people who are also concerned about the situation and discussing this matter more in-depth to inspire them. There will be no age limit on people who want to also get involved. I know that every generation has a connection to someone in the military. This project would include public speaking, social media and word of mouth. I would like the huge group of volunteers to write, draw, and send easily mailed gifts to service men and women. No one wants to feel forgotten, especially on holidays.
Works Cited
One Time. (2009, January 1). How long is the average time in deployment for the US ARMY? Retrieved February 22, 2015, from https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090911144905AAbJwOK
"Christmas in Bahrain." About Careers. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://usmilitary.about.com/od/picturesandgraphics/ig/Military-Christmas/christmas18.htm#step-heading>.
"How Many U.S. Troops Are Still in Afghanistan?" CBS News. 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-many-us-troops-are-still-in-afghanistan/>