May 12th - May 19th
On May 12, 2004, Bonny Eagle High School in Standish launched a weeklong event called "Operation Bonny Eagle Supporting Our Troops." Earlier this spring Nancy Bozenhard ("Leave a Light On Project" in Limington) approached Dr. Grace Ward about doing something for our troops and Dr. Ward suggested the high school would be a good place to start. Ms. Sheila Jepson, Ms. Jean Labrecque, and Ms. Dawna Cyr met with Ms. Bozenhard and came up with "Operation Bonny Eagle Supporting Our Troops."
On May 12th the high school kicked off a week of collecting "stuff" for our troops overseas. It was a way to support the troops and let them know that Bonny Eagle students are thinking about them and that they care. The high school began the campaign by having a Red, White, and Blue Day to show America spirit. Each block 1 classroom collected a variety of items that will be shipped overseas to the troops. The boxes will be sent to Bonny Eagle graduates who are currently serving in the military as well as to anyone in the military that has a direct connection to the Bonny Eagle community through friends or family. The collections of books, magazines, canned foods, food mixes, cookies, snack foods, candy, and toiletries will run until May 19th. At that time, the number of items will be tallied and the winning classroom will be announced. The winning classroom will receive patriotic t-shirts and have a breakfast hosted by Major Mark Gauger, Commander of the Maine Air National Guard, 265th Combat Communications Squadron thanks to a very generous donation by First Technology of Standish.
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Bonny Eagle High School has also been gathering names of graduates of Bonny Eagle and those soldiers with ties to the Bonny Eagle community. The names are being displayed on the library windows along with photos of soldiers and maps of Iraq and Afghanistan.
As of Tuesday night, over 2,800 items have been collected. With one more day to go, the totals could far exceed these numbers. Some students and staff will be gathering on Friday to start putting together the packages to be sent out. The Saco Valley Teachers Association and students and staff have already donated over $130 to put towards the shipping of the boxes. Much more will be needed and they are working on raising more funds to cover the shipping costs.
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