Grasonville Elementary School Raises $1,200 for Veteran Patients
Students’ Veterans Day Coin Drive Exceeds Expectations.
Students at Grasonville Elementary School in Queen Anne’s County recently donated $1,200 to benefit veteran patients at the Perry Point VA Medical Center, a division of the VA Maryland Health Care System.
The funds were raised through a school-wide Veterans Day coin drive, held in lieu of the school’s traditional Veterans Day luncheon. Since the school could not hold the luncheon due to COVID-19 restrictions, school staff brain-stormed ways to teach students about Veterans Day and the meaning of sacrifice and giving, explains Grasonville Elementary School principal Tom Walls.
“From this, the coin drive was born,” Walls says. “In the beginning we were hoping to raise $200, but soon realized we could do much better.”
Walls explains that each classroom, from pre-k through grade 5, was given a coin jar for students to bring in their spare change. Students created cards for Veterans while the jars were being filled. Just nine school days later, the cards were completed, an impressive $1,200 had been collected, and the students were excited about their donation.
Walls shipped the package to the Perry Point VA Medical Center, located north of Queen Anne’s County along the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. The funds will be used to benefit veteran patients at the medical center and the cards are being distributed to the veterans on their meal trays.
“It is our hope that VA will find a good use for the funds and we will continue to think about future donations to Perry Point,” Walls says. “In the meantime, just know that all of our students and staff have grown a bit, into better citizens, having been through this experience.”
The VA Maryland Health Care System, which includes the Baltimore, Loch Raven and Perry Point VA Medical Centers, in addition to the Cambridge, Eastern Baltimore County, Fort Meade, Glen Burnie and Pocomoke City VA Outpatient Clinics, is dedicated to providing safe, quality and compassionate care to more than 55,000 veterans in Central Maryland and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Individuals and groups in the community are invited to learn more about volunteering or giving opportunities by calling 410-642-1038.