School: Faith Cooperative (Weston, Massachusetts)
Sponsor: Mark Parker, Framingham FSU Chick-fil-A
Project overview: A heartwarming dinner event for veterans, active service members, and their families to create a fun, family-friendly evening of fellowship and appreciation for those who have served.
The Spark of an Idea
After considering ways to give back in their community, Chick-fil-A Leader Academy™ students at Faith Cooperative in Weston, Massachusetts, voted to “honor our heroes.” This powerful motto guided their efforts to focus on serving veterans out of a deep respect for their service, as several students had fathers who are veterans. This connection with military families made the project particularly meaningful.
Overcoming Challenges and Celebrating Success
Pulling off such an event was no small feat. As projects can go, communication and buy-in from the group presented hurdles, but as the event drew closer, everyone rallied together. One unique challenge about Faith Cooperative is they are a hybrid homeschool network so they had to rely heavily on chat apps, video calls, and email to plan their event rather than in-person meetings. Despite these logistical complexities, the team persevered, learning valuable lessons in delegation and planning.
A significant turning point came a week before the event, as donations poured in and activities ramped up. The group successfully raised $1,500 through a $500 Microgrant from the Leader Academy Foundation and an additional $1,000 through their fundraising efforts.
More Than Just a Dinner
The event itself was packed with thoughtful touches:
Revolutionary War Fife and Drum Corps: A truly unique highlight was the performance by the William Diamond Fife and Drum Corps. Dressed in full Revolutionary War attire, they played patriotic songs, adding a special historical layer to the evening.
Family-Friendly Fun: The dinner was designed for families, with activities like bingo keeping both children and adults entertained.
Operation Gratitude: A particularly moving activity was “Operation Gratitude,” where attendees wrote heartfelt thank-you notes to veterans. These notes are being collected and sent to an organization that pairs them with gifts for service members.
Home-Cooked Goodness: In a remarkable display of dedication, the students themselves cooked half of the food for the buffet, led by a trained chef mom!
The Feeling of Impact
The highlight of the event for the students was seeing the veterans make new friends and feeling honored. Students and teachers alike were encouraged by the outcome of their efforts, which was a result of their teamwork and commitment. In total, the students honored 11 veterans at their event and are now equipped to execute more community projects like this in the future. Faith Cooperative exemplified the power of community, gratitude, creativity, and dedication.