Fishburne Military School Rings in the Season with Service

Fishburne Military School Cadets Continue Tradition of Service for Holidays

Waynesboro, VA — For nearly two decades, the Fishburne Military School Key Club has volunteered to ring the bells for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Drive.  This past Saturday, twelve cadets braved the bitter cold temperatures and rang the bells for one-hour shifts outside Kroger on Arch Avenue.  The cadets cheerfully greeted shoppers coming and going and wished them a Merry Christmas.  Many of the people who dropped their money in the red kettle thanked the cadets for volunteering.  Some even stopped to chat with the cadets for a minute inquiring about their experiences at Fishburne.

While Captain Doerr and Mrs. Todd were working with the Key Club at Kroger, Mrs. Berrang was organizing members of the FMS Key Club and Waynesboro High School Key Club at the Waynesboro Public Library’s “Breakfast with Santa” event.  This is another annual event in which the club enjoys to participate.  “They really enjoy working with the children”, said Mrs. Todd, FMS Key Club Advisor.  “The cadets love to volunteer at events that bring so much joy and happiness to children.”

On the same day across town at WalMart, the National Honor Society along with many faculty and staff volunteers, were also participating in the Red Kettle Drive.  The Salvation Army announced in the local newspaper that they were short of volunteers this Christmas season.  As a longtime member of this community, Fishburne was more than happy to step up to the plate and fill a needed void.

Another annual tradition for Key Club is to help the Salvation Army pack boxes of food for disadvantaged families.  However, this year added new duties.  The cadets sorted hundreds of stockings for boys and girls of different age groups that are filled by local businesses and other charitable organizations throughout the community.  Probably the most enjoyed task was to unload the truck full of donated toys for the children of these disadvantaged families.  As they unloaded the boxes of toys for all ages, they became so excited for the children who would be receiving these toys.  “As I watched the cadets at work, it was obvious this experience took them back to a time when they received similar surprises under their tree on Christmas morning,” said Todd.

After all the food boxes were packed, the stockings separated and toys unloaded ready to be delivered to a special family and child, Captain Elyshia Perdieu, Pastor of the Salvation Church of Waynesboro, thanked the Key Clubbers and told them, “As you leave in just a few days to spend time with family and friends, I pray you remember the work you have done this evening. I hope you remember that when you are around town running or when you are at the local Krogers and see a family or a child, it may be one you helped by packing food for the elderly, sorting stockings, and unloading the truck of toys!  With your help they changed a family’s Christmas for the better. Merry Christmas and we pray God’s blessing on each and everyone one of you….Merry Christmas!”

Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built on the structure of an Army JROTC program. FMS has been designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academies. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation that is accredited by US Army Cadet Command.