As your Congressman, I wanted to share some of the ways communities in the Fourth District are showing their support for our men and women in uniform.
America Supporting Americans/ Adopt-a-Unit
Several of Kentucky’s cities have gotten involved with America Supporting Americans, a non-profit organization that connects individual units from all branches of the military with communities across the country. The communities establish strong, supportive relationships with the service members in their adopted unit by sending care packages and letters and organizing community events to honor their unit. In the Fourth District, nearly twenty cities have adopted units; in fact, Kentucky has adopted more units than any other State in the U.S.
Participating Fourth District Cities:
- Alexandia
- Ashland
- Bellevue
- Cold Spring
- Covington
- Crestview Hills
- Edgewood
- Elsmere
- Erlanger
- Florence
- Fort Mitchell
- Fort Wright
- Independence
- Lakeside Park
- Union
- Villa Hills
Fort Mitchell’s Beechwood Independent School district has been a longtime supporter of Bravo Company 2nd-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Fort Mitchell adopted the unit in 2004. Since then, students and faculty at Beechwood have mailed letters to unit members and their children, shipped regular care packages, and sent homemade cookies and ornaments to the troops each Christmas. On October 24th, Beechwood hosted Bravo Company for a day of activities, including special recognition during halftime of the Beechwood-Bellevue H.S. football game. To learn more about the America Supporting Americans organization, visit http://www.asa-usa.org/.
Barn Quilt Trail
In Lewis County, residents have been decorating their historic barns with special sign boards painted with quilt patterns for the last few years as part of the Lewis County Cooperative Extension Service’s “Barn Quilt Trail” project. On Veterans Day 2008, Lewis County officially unveiled “Patriot Trail,” a section of the Barn Quilt Trail dedicated to all veterans. Barns on Patriot Trail have been painted with special red, white and blue quilt squares to honor the service and sacrifice of these great Americans. Even the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post has participated in this project by painting quilt squares to resemble the flags of each branch of the armed forces. See a map of Patriot Trail here.
What about you?
If you would like to tell me how a group or organization in your town is helping support the troops, please e-mail me here and we might post your efforts on this webpage. In your e-mail, please include the subject line "Support the Troops website."
