Out of all of Brentwood’s many organizations, the National Honor Society has a reputation for holding many unique events and fundraisers, one of the most notable being their Veterans Day fundraiser. To raise the funds, NHS sold an assortment of poppy-themed items. Like all of their fundraisers, NHS donated its sales to charity. In this case, The Fisher House Foundation was the charity of choice. Fisher House builds comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay free of charge while a loved one is in the hospital.
“All the NHS officers met together in Swearngin’s room, and we decided what kind of item we wanted to sell this year,” said Cora Urhahn (12), an NHS officer herself. “Last year we did key-chains and such and we had some leftovers that we were able to sell for this year. Additionally, this year, we decided to bring back some of the old bracelets.”
Why are the bracelets and key-chains always poppy themed?
According to The American Legion, after World War I, the poppy flower thrived across Europe. In France and Belgium, some scientists credited the poppy’s growth to the soil’s increase in lime from war detritus. With the notion that the poppy not only survived but flourished after a war plus the red of the flower symbolizing the blood shed by soldiers, it’s no wonder that the American Legion adopted the flower as its official symbol of remembrance.
Crafting these poppy bracelets was new territory for most of the NHS cabinet members, and it required a significant collective effort to make enough for the school to buy. “I went out on an errand to go find beads and string and figure out how to make them,” said Urhahn, “And then I came back, and I did a class demonstration in front of everybody, and we were able to get mass production going.”
Production was a largely independent process, with various NHS members working hard to assemble bracelets whenever possible, even in the back of classes!
“Crafting these poppy bracelets took some time, but it also shows our dedication to honoring our veterans,” said officer Kevin Ou (12), who spent an entire period of German class working.
The fundraiser ended successfully over the two-day period in which items NHS members were selling poppies. The tradition lives on and felt poppies are still dangling from students’ backpacks around the halls of Brentwood.
