Earlier this week, before ceremonies and parades honoring the nation’s veterans, a state lawmaker in Massachusetts continued a tradition he and others started during the pandemic – one connecting local students with those who have served.
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Carrying a plastic crate into the Veterans Home at Holyoke, Hampden and Hampshire State Senator John Velis says some 2,000 letters from western Mass. school children were delivered to veterans this week - so many that more were being distributed to other retired veterans as well as active-duty members.
Velis says the effort started as a small civic project of sorts nearly seven years ago – an effort to show appreciation to veterans, even amid isolation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s grown steadily ever since.
“The hope is to have each veteran to get five or six [letters] - just to feel like they're appreciated. I've been on the receiving end of these letters when I've been deployed - getting those letters… it lets you know folks are grateful, that you're appreciated,” Velis said. “I think - particularly in a place like this where a lot of times folks… they don't see their family on a daily basis – it’s just letting them know that their service is still appreciated. It's one of our favorite things to do every year.”
Velis himself is a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
After making an in-person delivery on Tuesday, his office estimates some two dozen schools in Hampden and Hampshire counties took part in the drive this year.
