Rho Kappa hosts veteran fundraiser
photo by Caitlyn Patel
Junior Christina Lopez donates money for the K9s For Warriors foundation in return for a blue slip of paper describing the organization and what it does for veterans. Almost every social studies class offered extra credit to students who turned in the blue slips of paper.
Rho Kappa Honor Society hosted a showing of the movie Max on Thursday, Nov. 5. While the club could not require students to pay for the movie due to licensing laws, donations were strongly encouraged. A little less an $1000 was raised, and all of it went to the K9s For Warriors foundation in celebration of Veterans Day next week.
K9s For Warriors is a non-profit organization that provides veterans with dogs to help lessen the effects of mental trauma from military service. The dogs provide love, comfort and support, and serve as a powerful and effective therapy for veterans, especially those struggling with emotional distress.
According to the foundation’s mission statement, “K9s For Warriors is dedicated to providing service canines to warriors suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disability, traumatic brain injury and/or military sexual trauma as a result of military service post 9/11.” The organization also aims to “empower [veterans] to return to civilian life with dignity and independence” with the help of well-trained therapeutic service dogs.
95 percent of the dogs trained and given to veterans are adopted from a shelter. So not only are the veterans given a therapeutic way to reduce the effects of PTSD, but the rescued dogs get a second chance for a loving home.
Although the fundraiser ended, K9s For Warriors accepts donations at any time.
The event also gave students the opportunity to watch a powerful movie about the impact of military service on veterans and the veterans family.
“It was an awesome opportunity to learn more and help out, to see things from a different view point, and to educate the community,” Rho Kappa president Mira Saad said. “It went really well and if you can try to come to future events, try to make the time to.”
Rho Kappa’s next event will be an educational display for Black History Month in February.
If students did not get the chance to watch Max, they can find it on Netflix or on Amazon for $10-$20 dollars, used or new.
“Rho Kappa wants to educate, share, and make history important and we hope these events will help us reach out to the community,” Rho Kappa sponsor Dali Stires said. “We sometimes don’t think about history, but we need to know what has happened in the past so we understand what is going on now.”
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