Post 195 in Lugoff financially supports the local high school teams from football to cross country.
American Legion Larry Jeffers Post 195 in Lugoff, S.C., is fulfilling the Children & Youth pillar of the organization by supporting youth athletic needs at Lugoff-Eldon High School from its JROTC program with gear to the football team’s banquet. So when the high school cross country team needed warm-up gear and uniforms, the coach knew who to turn to.
Post 195 Legion Family members recently presented a check for $2,034 to the Lugoff-Elgin cross country team to cover the cost of the uniforms and warm-up gear. This is Post 195's second year of financial support for the team.
“There's a unanimous vote almost every time to support the local youth,” said Post 195 Commander Ruppert Baird. “We work hard to support the community. That's the big thing for us is veterans and the community.”
Post 195 Legion Family’s financial support of youth goes beyond the local high school. The post is sponsoring five youth sports teams through the Kershaw County Parks & Recreation Department in Camden, S.C. The post sponsors three youth teams, while Auxiliary Unit 195 sponsors two teams, of softball, baseball and T-ball.
“We want to be sponsors, and we have been doing it for the last three or four years,” Baird said. “Again, we are trying to involve the kids and support our local community.”
That support goes both ways.
JROTC students help Post 195 with road cleanup and events at the post. For example, when immediate past National Commander James LaCoursiere Jr. came to visit the post for a special banquet, students helped park cars and then enjoyed a meal at the post. And when the baseball team asked Post 195 for a donation of three flagpoles to fly the U.S., state and POW/MIA flags outside left field, the team had a surprise for the Legionnaires.
The flags flying at Optimist Field are the U.S., POW/MIA and Post 195.
“Once the poles were delivered and installed the team revealed that the line-up of flags would be flown as a way to recognize Post 195's contributions to L-EHS baseball,” Baird said.
The post is also platinum sponsors of the Lugoff-Elgin High School Trident Club where on home game nights, members set up a Post 195 table “to let everybody know that we support Lugoff-Elgin athletics.”
“We're trying hard to support our community everywhere we can between Palmetto Boys and Girls State, blood drives and all these things,” Baird said.
- Youth