With letters in hand, pictured from left, are: Miranda Bull, Sierra Wells, Lake Sivak, Michael Houser, Amelia Thorp, Michael Hinsdale, Seth Gibson, Ryan Pascarella, Casey Williams, Tjitze Kranzo, Wyatt Perry, Reid Gustafson, Clayton Hanson, Mrs. Eimiller, Druex Seeley, Sebastian Diaz, Devin Ardnt and Carolyn Ruby.

WEST ELLICOTT — When the local Blue Star Moms ask for community support, Southwestern seniors are happy to answer the call to action — something that our servicemen and women do on a regular basis.

Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. is a private nonprofit organization that provides support for mothers with children in active service in the U.S. Armed Forces. Recently, the Blue Star Moms had the privilege of “adopting” a platoon of 34 men and 10 women currently stationed in Germany. These newly adopted soldiers soon have the possibility of being sent to different countries on various missions with very few supplies of any sort.

As a result, in May, Kathy Collver, vice president of the Lake Erie NY4 chapter of the Blue Star Mothers, wrote a letter to the Op/Ed page of The Post-Journal asking the Jamestown community for support through homemade cards and small food items. After recently completing a research and writing unit about war veterans, Mrs. Junie Eimiller’s second block English 12 students eagerly jumped at chance to do so. Subsequently, students embarked upon a letter writing campaign aimed at letting these soldiers know just how appreciated they really are.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see just how serious my seniors were about expressing their gratitude to our military personnel,” explained Mrs. Eimiller. “The care and time they took in writing really resulted in a beautiful, heartfelt collection of thank you letters that will, hopefully, be a source of support for our troops overseas.”

According to senior Tjitze Kranzo, “Writing these letters really made me think about the soldiers who protect our country and the sacrifices they make; it made me appreciate that I get to go home to my family everyday.”