Belmont American Legion Post 312 donates $1K to UL Elementary
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MORRISTOWN - Some Union Local Elementary students will enjoy an even happier holidays, thanks to Belmont American Legion Post 312, which donated $1,000 to the school Monday morning.
The donation comes from the Legion’s spaghetti dinner fundraiser held on Oct. 4 and will help the school provide a happy holiday to its students in need.
Union Local Elementary School Pre-K through second grade principal Dana Kendziorski said the school helps more than 30 families with Christmas items for the kids such as clothes and toys.
"Our staff will go out and help buy for these families, and we also have people in the community that may want to buy for a family, so we share the information with them, and they go and purchase the gifts for them," Kendziorski said. "This community is great for donating. Right now, the kids are bringing in canned good items that we donate to the food pantry in Flushing. State Farm purchases turkeys, and we do a Thanksgiving meal for families."
She added each year, it seems like more families are in need and she is grateful for the legion's annual donation to help the families in need.
"It just means so much that people want to help out and donate to this community," Kendziorski said. "I’ve been here 14 years. It’s always been a giving community with families in need, and it never ends. We always get the help that we need."
She said she’s grateful for the veterans' donation every year, noting it goes a long way to help purchase the items for the children.
Post Commander John Waugh added the community has always been good to the legion, so it loves whenever it gets the opportunity to give back.
He said the legion was aware the school hosts its annual children’s Christmas drive, so it decided to donate whatever it could to the school.
Waugh said this is the legion's fifth year donating to the school.
"We want to donate back because this community is great to us," Waugh said. "We want to still serve like we did with the service."
Vice commander Andy Wildman added the legion wanted to thank all of the local media who previously covered the Oct. 4 spaghetti dinner because it made a world of difference in its attendance. The dinner is the legion's only fundraiser it hosts for the entire year.
Waugh previously said the post keeps just enough of the funds generated from the event to survive, then gives whatever it has left back to the community.
The Belmont American Legion is not a traditional post due to it not having a bar or gambling machines. It also shares a building with the Belmont County Military Veterans Museum.
Waugh said the legion is currently looking for new members.
"We appreciate new members because we’re down to 32. We'd like to build it up a little bit, and the museum is in trouble too. We’d like to get some volunteers to join Cheryl [Skinner] in the museum to help her out," Waugh said. "This group of individuals here, these veterans, are some of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know."
He added that if any veterans are interested in joining the legion to reach out to call the museum at 740-761-0155.