Eagle Valley Middle School students donate to veterans

The students and staff at Eagle Valley Middle School collected more than 1,100 toiletry items that were delivered to the veterans hospital in Reno on Monday.

In honor of Veterans Day, each homeroom class collected toiletries, such as shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, lotion, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash and combs.

"I am very proud of this event because it directly benefits our local vets," said student council adviser Bonnie Preston. "The students gain a better understanding of what veterans go through and what can happen to the vets after they come home from serving their country. It is a way to teach the students that even little things, like donating toiletries, matter to people."

The items were sorted and packed into nine boxes on Friday after school by the student council and taken by volunteers to the VA Hospital in Reno on Monday.

Because of budget cuts, the student council was not able to deliver the goods because the hospital is in Reno and it would have been an out of town field trip.

"So we reached out to the community and contacted Val Jensen and Don King of the Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 305 here in Carson," Preston said. "These two wonderful men took time on Monday to come to Eagle Valley and pick up the nine boxes. They then delivered them directly to the front entrance of the hospital where Volunteer Services was waiting for them."

Preston said this is the second time Eagle Valley Middle School has organized such an event and she hopes to make it annual. She said she would like to include the community next year.

"Our students, parents and staff really came through," Preston said. "They may be basic items to some of us, but these items will be given to the vets in the hospital over the following months. It raised awareness as to what our veterans do for us and why we honor them on Veterans Day."