Pine View salutes veterans with yearlong project

Each year, Pine View School students participate in a school-wide community service project. This year, when the students were trying to develop an idea, student coordinator and senior John Potvin asked the other student planners what they thought they could do to make a difference in the community. They all agreed that they wanted to do something to thank U.S. military veterans.

“We wanted to show how much Pine View loves the community and how much we care,” said Potvin. “We’ve always done something to help people who are less fortunate, but this was a new aspect that we’d never touched on, and we all thought we could make a big difference.”

The project, titled “Pine View Salutes Our Veterans,” is a yearlong project that unites the entire school, from elementary students to seniors, in a four-part effort to thank veterans on a local and national level.

The first aspect of the project involved the school adopting a local veteran, who is on 100% disability, to help provide financial assistance to him and his family.

While stationed in Korea, Pine View’s veteran was frostbitten and also developed acute asthma. Pine View will work to provide him with a new air-conditioning unit, which will alleviate some of his high electric bills and asthma problems.

Other aspects of the project include partnering with Operation Military Assistance Program to fill 50 backpacks with personal-hygiene supplies to send to homeless veterans; writing letters to currently deployed soldiers and various other fundraising projects, including a change-collection day, a flea market, kickball tournaments and selling shirts and buttons.

“A lot of people know that our students are gifted, but another thing that’s nice is our ability to be active in the community,” said Potvin. “The best part of all of this is knowing that you can make a difference, even with small things. We wanted to come together, as a school, and say thanks to these veterans.”