33 students from the JROTC department performed three community service projects on Saturday, Sep. 25 (photo courtesy JROTC/used with permission).
As most students know, the Hanks JROTC cadets are multitasking hard workers. Above the busy week they had with the homecoming parade, which was a success, and the game in which they did not leave till 11 at night, 33 cadets still showed up at 7am Saturday morning for three community service projects.
The first community service project was the Adopt-A-Highway clean up on Montana. All 33 cadets went out on the sides of the road and picked up trash that varied all the way from candy wrappers to advertisement boards. They filled up to 15-20 large garbage bags with only their bare hands.
“It was a very big deal for us to do this, because you never really realize how bad our streets look until you’re the one picking them up,” said junior Angel U. Ortega, Alpha company commander. “You really learn how to pick up after yourself and what it means to keep our street clean. It not only has an effect on the way El Paso looks but it effects our environment as well.”
The second service that they did was Texas Veterans nursing home. After the cadets washed their hands and drank some water, they all got on the bus and went to visit WWII and Vietnam veterans.
“It was a really sad experience,” said CPT (ret.) Eileen Williams. “It’s heartbreaking talking to all these lonely soldiers who have no families, no friends, and no one to comfort they. They have nothing to entertain them but the 4 white walls that surround them.”
Cadets listened and shared stories of their personal lives and bonded with each member of the nursing home. It really seemed to make all the people there happy.
After that all 33 cadets went back on the bus and drove down to CiCi’s pizza where captain and sergeant treated them to a nice lunch, where they all relaxed and enjoyed each others company for a while before the went off to their next project.
Once everyone had finished eating, they went back to the school and Captain took 15 cadets to feed about 100 active soldiers steaks at fort bliss. They were there from three in the afternoon to 5:30. They also watched Delta company get awarded best company for the day.
“It was a great experienced and I really enjoyed myself,” said junior Kassandra Banuelos, also the platoon sergeant for Bravo company. “I was really worried about getting to homecoming on time but all in all I had lots of fun.”
With only two hours to get ready, Williams took all the kids home to get ready for the wonderful night they had ahead of them.
