Students offer ‘a million thanks’ to veterans

The Associated Student Body (ASB) observed Veterans Day on Nov. 11 outside of the Caf by asking students to sign Christmas and thank-you cards addressed to veterans and active military personnel.

“We’re writing thank-you cards to our troops that are abroad as well as our veterans, just to show our gratitude for all that they do, and have done for the country,” said senior political science major Elsa Zelada, one of the students who signed a letter.

Megan Woolfolk, assistant director of community life, said that the cards would be sent to an organization called A Million Thanks.

A Million Thanks is a non-profit organization that started in 2004 with the goal of providing active, reserve, and veteran military members with letters of appreciation as well as monetary donations.

The ASB event accompanies the opening of the new Veteran’s Club on campus, which was chartered just two weeks before the event. The club was unable to host an event for Veterans Day in time, but was supportive of the card signing.

“We couldn’t pull anything together, just being chartered so late,” said Joshua WatersJackson, club president and 30-year-old transfer student in his second year at PLNU.

WatersJackson is a Marine Corps veteran who served five years as a staff sergeant from 2002 to 2007. Right now, he wants to ensure that all veterans at PLNU, student, faculty or staff, have a way to connect with each other.

“We really are a separate group, just because of our experiences,” WatersJackson said. He hopes that the club will serve as a resource for veterans and students to learn about things like military benefits, enlistment and Veteran’s Affairs services.

Right now, the club has 23 members including student and faculty veterans as well as ROTC members.

WatersJackson believes that veterans and military members make up an important portion of the school population.

“The school as a whole can benefit from veterans being involved, we tend to be more dedicated students,” WatersJackson said.

No official meeting times have been designated but WatersJackson said they might meet every other Wednesday. He said the club hopes to put on at least two events between this semester and the next, one to provide general information to veterans and another to reach out to ROTC members on campus.

See video from the event here!