Lehigh JROTC continues the holiday collection tradition

The following letter was received by Immokalee Outreach Office Manager Josie Means. Each year, the Lehigh Senior High School JROTC collects food and clothing to assist Shelter participants in Immokalee. The tradition has a humble and heartwarming history as presented below:

Dear Mrs. Means,

“It was a pleasure visiting with you and your team last Thursday. The Shelter visit is one of the most rewarding trips our cadets get the opportunity to participate in all year. I wasn’t a JROTC Instructor on the initial visit to the Shelter, so I asked my department head, LTC Timothy Walter, to provide the following information.

In late October 2014, a Lehigh JROTC student named Isabella Quiles-Rosa proposed a service learning project for our program. She wanted to do something to help others less fortunate than herself.

She reached out to The Shelter Outreach Office in Immokalee to see what we could do to help. Isabella choose this organization because she grew up in Immokalee and had family there. She had personal experience with people who had been helped by The Shelter. She took the lead and planned and coordinated the food and clothing drive that first year.

We, the JROTC instructors, were surprised with the way our students embraced this drive and we had to borrow a trailer to transport all the items we collected. The staff at The Shelter were amazing people, who educated our students as to the mission of The Shelter.

We have now conducted this annual drive for three years in the November/ December time frame. Our students look forward to this drive as a way to help others around the holidays. Each year, the Senior Staff Cadets plan, coordinate and execute this drive. Not only do they get to help, they learn from this project.

Please know the future of America is bright!”

LTC Timothy Walter
Gary W. Carter II, CW4, (USA Retired)
Army JROTC Instructors, Lightening Regiment
Lehigh Senior High School