Ladies Auxiliary of the Pine Island VFW Post 4353 presents Americanism Award to island student
By ED FRANKS
Last Tuesday morning, Joyce Lake from the Ladies Auxiliary of the Pine Island Veterans of Foreign Wars presented Pine Island Elementary School student Kaab Khang with the first place award and a check for $100 for her essay on “Americanism.”
The topic of Khang’s essay was, “What I would say to welcome home a veteran.”
The goals of the VFW Americanism program are to promote patriotism, teach students about the American heritage, demonstrate the proper care of the U.S. flag and ensure that the public will never forget the sacrifices made by America’s soldiers.
VFW members are also passionate about helping bring attention to prisoners of war and those missing in action by holding ceremonies to both educate their respective communities and honor these special veterans. The full accounting of those missing in action is a high priority of the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary VFW.
“I am happy to be here today to present one of your students, Kaab Khang, with our Americanism Award,” Lake said. “Last fall Kaab Khang won first place in our essay contest that the VFW puts together every year. We sent your essay to the district and then to the department which is for the whole state of Florida.”
“We are very proud of Kaab,” said Jim Downs, Kaab’s father. “Kaab is super, super intelligent and good at everything. In Wisconsin the school wanted to move her up a grade which we decided against. She read the map when we drove all the way from Wisconsin to Florida. She’s good at art, she is an excellent swimmer. There’s just no limit to what she can do.”