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Grand Rapids Collecting Socks to Help Our Heroes Our veterans see youths helping and giving back to them By YMSSgt Devin Simkins and YMSgt Brian Stricklen Grand Rapids MI We were approached by an individual while we were performing a commu- nity service. The individual asked us if we would like to takeover a major sock col- lection for the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans and we of course said yes because we felt it was our patriotic duty to do such a honorable deed. We had lots of hard work ahead of us but first we made collection boxes and fliers to put at local busi- nesses. Then we were in- vited to be guests on a morning radio talk show to publicize the sock collection and speak about the Young Marines program. A local 5th grade teacher heard us on the radio and had her class collect socks and when they finished col- lecting the socks she asked us to talk to her class about why it is important to appre- ciate our veterans. We spoke to them about the Young Marines program and what it stands for. While we were spreading the word about collecting socks we received a very gen- erous donation of 216 pairs of socks from an anonymous donor.We were overwhelmed by the communitys effort to- wards collecting socks for our veterans. But we also did a little competition within our own Young Marines unit. As YMSgt Stricklen led the Recruits to collecting a total of 310 pairs of socks and YMSSgt Simkins led the Young Marines to a total of 421 pairs of socks we as a unit collected a grand total of 731 pairs of socks. The Grand Rapids Home for Vet- erans Christmas party was held on December 13 2014. The final grand total of all the socks donated and collected was 1435 pairs of socks. We had more than enough socks for the veterans. The Christmas party was a blast.We had passed out pizza to all the veterans who had attended. The veterans also played many rounds of bingo. In addition to all of this we received homemade Christ- mas cards from various schools churches and daycares that were placed in almost 250 gift bags for the veterans. Every gift bag also included two dollars in cash a small bag of candy personal hygiene items and of course a few pairs of socks. We know how im- portant it is to our veterans when they see the youth help and give back to them. This is why we are already plan- ning new ways to get donations for next year and we would like to leave this honorable duty as a legacy even after we leave the program. YMs Stricklin and Simpkins with part of this years collection of socks for veterans. Page 14 ESPRIT