Crystal Wang, Celia Liu
While Valentine’s Day, or February in general, is most popularly seen as a time used for celebrating lovers, it should also be a time to celebrate the people who have dedicated their lives to our country. Many of the retired veterans of our country don’t get as much of the love and appreciation they deserve, never knowing how truly grateful the people of our country are for their time and service.
Every year, Cardozo’s NJROTC hopes to show some of these veterans their gratitude by visiting The New York State Veterans’ Home at St. Albans. to deliver hundreds of donated goods obtained through New York Assemblyman Edward Braunstein’s “Valentines for Vets” gift drive to hospitalized and disabled veterans.
“Valentines for Vets” originated from before Braunstein’s time in office and was actually started by his predecessor and continued by him and his staff. “It predates my time at the office, and even the assemblyman’s time in office…he took it over from his predecessor, so I’d say about 20 years,” stated Suzy Monteverdi, Braunstein’s chief of staff.
Monteverdi continues on by saying “He took over the tradition because he understood the importance of letting the veterans know they’re appreciated.”
When asked this tradition was first created and carried on for so many years, Braunstein responded, “We do it to show our appreciation for the Veterans. They sacrificed a lot for us and they put themselves in harm’s way…many of them are injured both physically and psychologically so we’re trying to show our gratitude for them.
“As far as the things we work on…especially for newer veterans, we try to help them move on from their trauma,” he explained.
While Braunstein and his staff were the ones who organized and planned out this yearly event, the event itself couldn’t have happened without the many donations that were given by the Northeastern Queens Residence, who were extremely generous with the many donations they made for the Veterans.
The students of NJROTC also contributed greatly by helping distribute the gifts and showing the veterans their appreciation.
“We are very thankful that Cardozo High School participates and helps us out at the drive. The assemblyman appreciates the hard work of the students and I know the veterans appreciate it too,” Monteverdi appreciatively said.
