Members of Post 2 in Shakopee, Minn., conducted community service as part of the Legion’s USA 250 Challenge by filling the kits with needed school supplies.
Members of Post 2 American Legion Family in Shakopee, Minn., joined the Legion’s USA 250 Challenge as a way to celebrate America’s birthday and support youth in the community.
The challenge consists of three categories – fitness, mental health and community service – where participants log at least 250 miles or hours in one or all three. Post 2 Legion Family chose community service and created 250 back-to-school kits that were delivered to five public schools in the community. Each kit included an eraser, glue stick, scissors, ruler, pencils, colored pencils, markers and an erase maker.
“It helped the teachers know that we’re there to support them in any way that we can,” said Tami Paul, Auxiliary Unit 2 president.
A sticker was attached to each one that featured each Legion Family brandmark and read:
“We’re excited for you to kick off the new school year with these awesome supplies! This back-to-school kit is a special gift from the Shakopee American Legion Auxiliary, American Legion Post 2 and the Sons of The American Legion, all in honor of America’s 250th birthday. We hope it helps you have a great year full of learning and fun! We believe that you can do GREAT things!”
American Legion Children & Youth Month is April and during this month American Legion Family members are encouraged to show their community the Legion’s dedication to youth. Post 2’s Legion Family is a great example of how you can participate in the USA 250 Challenge while caring for youth in the community. Maybe your post Legion Family could pay $250 toward student lunch debt to ensure no child goes hungry, or conduct 250 hours of volunteer service in the schools by teaching flag etiquette or tutoring.
If your post Legion Family supports Children & Youth Month through a USA 250 Challenge service, please share by sending an email to dispatch@legion.org.
You can register for the USA 250 Challenge here for $30, which supports the Veterans & Children Foundation.
Posts, units and squadrons can create a USA 250 Challenge group. To get started, each Legion Family member registers individually. The first member to register will need to designate a team name and needs to let others know the name before they register so they can join it during the registration process.
- USA250 Challenge