From the outside, elementary schools across America often look the same. But inside there are differences - especially when it comes to one in a military community. There the faces of students and teachers change regularly; entire classes shift around; and a lot of the time at least one parent is missing from not only the PTA but from his or her children's day-to-day lives.
The For Our Young American Stars quilt was made with the handprints of children from Hillside Elementary, located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord Main, and from their personal experiences in the military. Last year, Karen Schade, a community relations representative for America's Credit Union, or ACU, and a former member of the Veterans Family Fund of America, or VFFA, began the project by approaching the principal of Hillside, Harjeet Sandho-Fuller. Schade asked if Hillside students would be willing to write essays about how it felt to have a parent in the military. Sandho-Fuller and her staff soon had 20 kids, from kindergarten through fifth grade, writing stories that both inspire hope and invoke tears.
"If you spend a few minutes reading these children's words, some may strike you as having grown up before their time," said VFFA Treasurer Walter Cook.
The VFFA extends emergency financial help to veterans and their families in an effort "to put their money where their words are." The organization prides itself on helping veterans when other agencies cannot and ensuring that no one slips through the cracks. Fund-raising events have included annual golf tournaments in 2008 and 2009, and VFFA's presence can be felt at some of the veterans' resource fairs in the area.
"Most importantly, we are working to expand our relationships with other states' veterans affairs departments to develop the type of partnership with them that we have with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs," explained VFFA Board Secretary Doug Adams.
Once the quilt was finished, the VFFA displayed it at a few credit unions and banks that it partners with before auctioning it off. The lucky winner was none other than ACU, which paid generously according to Adams. Not surprisingly, ACU donated the quilt back to the school.
"It will hang in the front hall so everyone can see it," said Sandho-Fuller. Though a few of the students involved have already left Hillside, every student who walks those halls can relate to the heartfelt words displayed on the quilt. In the end, it is something they share.