T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA American Legion Post 312 Commander Terry Puperi leads Post 312 and Crossfit for Change in prayer before they band together to collect flags from veterans’ graves.

BELMONT — Crossfit for Change participants spent Tuesday afternoon helping American Legion Post 312 collect and properly discard American flags that had been placed on veterans’ graves at Belmont Cemetery for Memorial Day.

The 12 youngsters participating are all Belmont County residents who are on probation through Belmont County Juvenile Court. Crossfit for Change is a six-month crossfit program located at O.V. Crossfit in the Ohio Valley Mall that offers children on probation the opportunity to receive early termination of their probation.

According to Crossfit For Change Coordinator Courtney Cook, statistically the program has a 90% success rate with the children involved with the program not reoffending as well as a 90% attendance rate at all classes.

He added that since the creation of the program in August 2022, there have been six youth who have continued to come back to the program to work out and participate without being on probation.

“One of the reasons we started the Crossfit for Change program was to help lower those rates of re-offenses, so we’ve done pretty well with that,” Crossfit for Change Instructor Jessica Cook said.

The legion serves six cemeteries, providing flags to recognize deceased veterans within the Ohio Valley, totaling roughly 600 flags.

American Legion Post 312 Commander Terry Puperi applauded the Crossfit for Change children for helping to discard the flags from the Belmont Cemetery, saying that due to them being much younger they were able to do the work more quickly than the legion members.

“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate their help doing this for us. It would have taken us forever to do it because our age group’s getting up there and these are younger kids that have the stamina to walk around the cemetery and pick up the flags for us,” Puperi said.

Tuesday marks the first time Crossfit for Change has helped take the flags down for the legion. Belmont County Concentrated Conduct Adjustment Program Director Noah Atkins contacted Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton and asked if he was aware of any upcoming veteran-based community service events or projects in which Crossfit for Change could participate. Dutton gave Atkins Puperi’s phone number.

When Atkins reached out to Puperi, the original plan was for the kids to fix a small fence that was damaged during a recent storm. Atkins said Puperi mentioned the flags needed to be taken off of the veterans graves, and Atkins told him that the Crossfit for Change kids could do that instead.

“This is something that we were presented with as an opportunity to help the community and we also thought that this would be a great opportunity for the kids and also mix in some physical activity while we’re out here,” crossfit instructor Jessica Cook said.

Post 312 will be hosting a spaghetti dinner from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Belmont Gym. Puperi said although the dinner is the only fundraiser the legion will be holding all year, there is no set price for a dinner. Instead, the legion will be accepting donations to ensure everyone is able to attend regardless of their financial situation. This year’s dinner will include desserts provided by local food truck So Nuts 4 Donuts, and dinners can be ordered as eat-in or takeout meals. For more information or to volunteer, call Puperi at 740-310-9042.