Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Kansas Honor Flight on the GMCF Community Hour Episode - 191
The Kansas Honor Flight pairs area veterans with high school students for life-changing journeys to Washington D.C. memorials, creating powerful connections between generations and providing long-overdue recognition for those who served.
• Created in 2012 as one of five national hubs pairing veterans with student guardians
• 309 veterans have participated across 13 completed flights at no cost to them
• Student guardians are selected through the National Honor Society and essay applications
• Program provides healing experiences, especially for Vietnam veterans who received negative homecomings
Veterans interested in applying for future flights should visit www.honorflight.org or contact Wamego High School directly. The public is invited to the homecoming ceremony on April 30th at 10:30 am in the lower gym.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. We return with the GMCF Community Hour and we are going to extend, via Zoom, an invitation to our friends who are here representing on behalf of the Kansas Honor Flight and the Kansas Honor Flight has a great history. I think it's one of the great stories that we have in our area, based at Wamego High School, and we have three guests joining us here today. Sean Horning is back Hi there.
Speaker 2:Good morning Dave. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:I am great and getting better. Susie Schrenkel, you're a flight coordinator too.
Speaker 3:Yes, good morning.
Speaker 1:And Nora Bossy, who's the student guardian. That sounds like the big job.
Speaker 4:Oh, I don't know about that. It's the fun job, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:That's the fun job, okay? Well, we'll find out more about each of your own perspectives here, but, susie, let's start with you. You know you guys created this a few years ago. But let's, let's just first talk about the Wamego Honor Flight and what your mission is.
Speaker 3:Hub in 2012. And since then we've had 13 flights that we've completed and with all those 13 flights, our mission has always been to get area veterans to Washington DC so they can experience the memorials that were built for them and at no cost to them. So that has always been our mission to get area veterans to Washington DC, and we've been extremely fortunate that we are one of the five hubs in the nation that get to pair our heroes, our nation's heroes, with high school students.
Speaker 1:Sean, how did you get started with this?
Speaker 2:Someone approached me about it and we'd had some veterans go on another flight in Kansas and I had a gentleman approach me and ask if we wanted to maybe look into becoming a hub and I said yes and then found out ways to keep saying yes. So we're very fortunate to be able to do that, and that's kind of how I got started.
Speaker 1:You've had 13 flights. How many veterans have been on board on the honor flights?
Speaker 2:We were at 309 now after this last flight, so we'll go to 334 after our new one.
Speaker 1:So you do about 25, 30 individuals each trip 25 each time Yep. Okay, well, that's a chunk, that's a lot of folks and fulfilling a lot of dreams. I would suppose, nora, let's talk a little bit about from your end. As the student guardian, you say you got the fun job. Why is it the fun job?
Speaker 4:So you get to hear all sorts of stories. I'm sitting here with two teachers and they would agree with me that in these two and a half days you learn more than you can in a year in a classroom, and they just have so many unique stories that people have never heard before, and so they're also really funny. And so just being an escort and seeing and kind of being part of the healing process, that's an opportunity not many people have. So it's fun, it's powerful and it's a life changing experience as a life-changing experience as a student guardian.
Speaker 1:How does a student get involved in this?
Speaker 4:So first you have to be part of National Honor Society, and so that's more of a lengthy process. So you have to look at character, service, leadership and scholarship, and so you have to get you know recommendations from teachers and you write an essay and it's scored by this committee and then, once you're in NHS, you apply for the flight through an essay. One of the prompts was like what does the national anthem mean to you? That's an example of one of the prompts we did. And then the name gets taken off of it and then a committee reads it and chooses 25 individuals to accompany a veteran.
Speaker 1:Do you get some feedback from some of the students that have been on the trip? As a guardian, you're the student guardian, but what are the students called?
Speaker 4:Student guardians Student guardians. Right, yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so a student guardian, what are some of the perspectives that you've gained from some of these young people after they've been on the honor?
Speaker 4:flight. Hearing the stories of what they went through, I think it makes us realize what all we take for granted. I think it makes us grateful for the little things because, you know, they didn't always have three meals a day, they didn't have a roof over their head. So I think it just makes us, you know, live every day. You know grateful because they fall for it and it's important to be grateful for what they fought for.
Speaker 1:Definitely puts things in perspective. What about the veterans themselves? What kind of feedback do they provide you of their student guardians?
Speaker 4:Well, I think for a lot of them this is a long overdue thank you, especially for the Vietnam vets that had very negative experiences coming home experiences coming home to have a student there, listening to their stories, you know, showing gratitude and sometimes just helping in that healing process, just offering maybe a hand on the shoulder. I think it means the world to them. I think it gives them hope for our generation to know that we see the sacrifices made and we appreciate what they did and every single one of them is nothing short of grateful. They are just thankful for the opportunity to go on this flight and most of them come home and tell all their friends to go on the flight. So I think it's a life-changing experience for them too, and I think it, you know, leaves. I think a lot of them look back at their time of service and sometimes it's negative and this can kind of help be more of a positive experience for them.
Speaker 1:You were a student, guardian Nora.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, I was.
Speaker 1:How did that change you?
Speaker 4:It's changed me in so many ways. One way is like I just have such a like soft spot for veterans now I love hanging out with them, it's like probably one of my favorite hobbies and, you know, just like I said, it made me way more grateful. It's always also inspired me to, you know, dream big because they fought for my freedom, for my safety, for my liberty, and so you know, with my life I need to make a difference, just like they made a difference on mine.
Speaker 1:You know, sean, you talk about 25 individuals that go on the flight, but you're changing more than 50 lives in that, because the student guardians lives also are highly impacted, not just the veterans themselves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and one of the happy accidents that we've had is that a couple flights ago, we had our homecoming during the day, and it has been one of the most meaningful things for our entire community and we can't be thankful enough for the support we've been given.
Speaker 1:Do you have a little parade when they come pulling into town?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do.
Speaker 1:You guys do parades well in Wamego, by the way, yeah.
Speaker 2:As a matter of fact, the city does a great job of helping us put the flags up and then sometimes we're met at the state line by a trooper that gives us an escort all the way from the state line in, and then our Legion riders meet us coming off 99. And they're kind of the vanguard of the homecoming parade. We have a lot of first responders out and people line the streets and our elementary school students come down with signs. It's a heck of a homecoming.
Speaker 1:No doubt. Wow, that sounds like so much fun in so many ways. You have another flight coming up here next month. Sean, Give us some of the details.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, we have 25 again ready to go and on this flight and just appreciate the opportunity to honor their service. And the big thing that we want to stress to folks is that on. April 30th. April 30th at 1030 am in our lower gym and it is open to the public. We will welcome these men and women home, and so everybody's invited on April 30th at 1030. I'd get there a little earlier than 1030, but in the lower gym of our high school is where we'll have the big homecoming.
Speaker 1:Now, sean, when those veterans walk in, do they come in with their student guardians? Are they paired up together, just as if? You know? It's just another part of the experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's one of the cool parts, and I'll let Nora speak to this a little bit, because when they walk in, it is a student guardians that get to introduce their veterans and that's a very meaningful thing. What are your thoughts on that, nora?
Speaker 4:It's amazing to see their reactions. Most of them don't know the extent to what's happening, but our whole student body is there, along with community members, with signs and clapping In the gym. It's just like this electric type of feeling and most of their eyes just light up and they're smiling because for a lot of them, this is healing some of those wounds. You know, when they came home the first time they got you know nothing like this. So it's amazing to be a part of that and it's just an honor for us to be able to introduce and an honor to accompany them for those two and a half days.
Speaker 1:I think especially you know what you're saying, nora, and you know they didn't get that, especially the Vietnam veterans. They came back in such a tumultuous return for them and disappointing for many. It was a tough experience for them. I mean the war was one thing and then how the states came back and you know, really just kind of you know, did not give them any kind of recognition or even a bit of concern, and I know that that was hurtful for a lot. So I'm sure you've heard stories like that, similar to that, from Vietnam veterans that have been on the Kansas Honor Flight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that has been one of the things that the homecoming. Oftentimes we'll spend two days in Washington and we'll hear that the homecoming is the highlight of the trip.
Speaker 1:And so that is a fantastic gift as well. Some dignitaries from Kansas that would come and welcome the groups to the veterans, to some of those monuments especially. I know Bob Dole used to do that for you and you know, boy, you know it doesn't get any better than that, but do you still have some of our representatives come and say hi?
Speaker 2:Yeah, oftentimes we will have representatives and senators come out and welcome us there, or usually at the World War II Memorial, which is where Senator Dole always met us. And, oh man, he made a point to be out there rain or shine when he knew there were Kansas guys coming in. So I always miss seeing him right there at the entrance when we got to say hi, walking into the memorial there.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it was a highlight for him as well, Susie. Let's talk a little bit about the process that's involved for these veterans to become a part of the Wamego Honor Flight.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so there's several different ways to apply. Probably the easiest way is to go to our website, which is whsonnerflightorg, and there's an application that they can download there on the site. Or if they know of any veterans that have been on the flight, they can contact them. They have some applications we send out to them. They can call Sean or myself here at the high school, at Wamego High School, and those are probably the best ways and then we can send out an application from there. We also have in the fall we have our car show and we're giving applications out at our car show and any other times that we have events, whether it's bingo or the car show or whether there's Veterans Day parade, yep. So we try to get our applications out as much as we can.
Speaker 1:And I don't think we covered this, but is there a cost for the veterans to participate?
Speaker 3:No, there is no cost whatsoever for the veterans. They've paid theirs a long time ago.
Speaker 1:I know that you are part of Grow Green Match Day in Manhattan but also, I believe, in Wamego Is that correct With your community foundation there? What does the financial impact of those two events mean for the Wamego Honor Flight?
Speaker 2:Sean really has. It's a way to have a multiplying effect on our donations and our community both sponsors, businesses, our local private support. It's been there from the beginning, but this is a way to really help us maximize their donations and make sure that we keep getting our heroes to DC.
Speaker 1:Man, we've covered a lot of things. Anything we've missed.
Speaker 2:Just a quick reminder to get out here April 30th it's our 14th flight and so we're ready to go, and we love seeing as many members of the community and greater community get out and support our veterans as they make their homecoming.
Speaker 1:You have all 25 ready to go for this one. Are there any openings for this flight?
Speaker 2:This one's closed. So we're ready to go and just finalize that and the veterans will get their packet coming up later this week and the students find out Wednesday which veteran they will be serving. So pretty exciting around here.
Speaker 1:Got a waiting list for next year yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have some veterans that are on the list. So as soon as you get the applications in, the quicker we can get you on the roster. And, of course, if you're of an earlier war, you jump the line or have extenuating circumstances. There's allowances made for that as well. So we just want to make sure we get everybody there.
Speaker 1:Nora Bossy, thanks for joining us and sharing some of your perspectives and the stories that you have of your experiences with the Wamego Honor Flight. It's a delight to have you back.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thanks for having me. It's my favorite thing to talk about, so it's really been an honor and I hope that this can reach as many people as possible and we can get you know all of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, susie Sprinkle, always a delight to have you on and, sean, you know. What you guys have done over there, I think, is just one of the great community efforts of all time. For any community. What you're doing is special, and being able to bring two different generations together, making a rewarding experience for both, that's something to be commendable.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Dave.
Speaker 1:Great to have you on Once again the website whsonnerflightorg on the Kansas Honor Flight out of Wamego High School and when we come back from the break, mark Knockadoffel is going to be joining us here on the GMCF Community Hour on News Radio KMAN.