Ansbach Middle High School – JROTC Service Learning Project: K9s for Warriors

Writer – Marley Shackleton

Photographer – Marley Shackleton

Point of contact – MAJ (Ret) Madonna L. Roberts

For this year’s service learning project, we focused on raising awareness for the Service Dogs Assisting Veterans (SAVES) Act and raising money for “K9s for Warriors.” “K9s for Warriors” is a non-profit organization that provides service dogs to veterans with PTSD and other post-war conditions. At the same time, the SAVES Act would provide a federal grant to fund this program and other non profits that provide service animals to veterans.

We had three smart goals for the project: to raise $2800 for K9s for Warriors, to distribute 300 flyers for the SAVES Act, and for the battalion’s SAVES Act video to reach 150 views on YouTube by March 16th. All of which we surpassed by the end of the project.

We raised funds at a one day bake sale. Our bake sale and video were by far the most successful events of the project. Thanks to generous donations of sweet treats and the presence of two service dogs at the bake sale and in the video, we were able to meet all our goals. We raised $2895, disbursed well over 300 flyers thanks to our cadet volunteers, and our video was viewed 245 times by March 16th. Everyone agreed that the project helped them in some aspect of life, such as Cadet/CPT Ritter, who found the project boosted his confidence and helped raise his understanding of government processes. You can benefit too by looking into this program and participating in a service learning project. You can learn more about “K9s for Warriors” at k9warriors and view our SAVES video at Youtube.

From left to right:
Image 1: Cdt/PFC Maxwell Clay passing out SAVES act information at the bake sale.
Image 2: Left to Right: Cdt/MAJ Laysha Bobbitt, Cdt/CSM Lucas Hendrixson and MSG (Ret) Christopher Buchanan working at the bake sale.
Image 3: Left to Right: Cdt/MSG Mya Henderson and Cdt/1LT James Colon being filmed by Cadet/CPT Lincoln Ritter for the SAVES Act video.