The special education students of teacher Joseph Sciancalepore at Lakeland Regional High School have adopted the New Jersey Mission of Honor as their fundraising project for the school year. On Thursday, Nov. 19, the students presented $800 they collected to Mission of Honor. The funds raised will be used to help the Mission of Honor in its mission to make sure that the cremated remains (cremains) of fallen heroes are properly interned. There are thousands of deceased veterans whose remains remain unclaimed.
"The special education students of Lakeland High School accepted a challenge and demonstrated compassion for fellow Americans who have been left on shelves at many funeral homes throughout the state of New Jersey," said Nellie Malet, the photographer for Mission of Honor.
Francis Carrasco, vice chair of Mission of Honor, said, "This is very important to these students, and we admire their commitment to being good citizens. Many people don't even take the time to think about what happens to some of our veterans, but these students do. They are amazing and should be honored for their service to others."
The students were presented with New Jersey Mission of Honor hats and I.D. cards making all of them honorary members of the New Jersey Mission of Honor.
The students had raised the money by organizing a "Jeans Day" at LRHS wherein all staff members who participated in day were allowed to wear jeans to work as long as they donated $5 toward the students' Mission of Honor contribution.
LRHS Principal Anthony Riscica said that he and Sciancalepore are planning another fundraising event for Mission of Honor for Memorial Day.
Riscica said he and Sciancalepore had heard about the Mission of Honor in a newspaper article last spring and spoke during the summer about doing a fundraiser for the group and were ready to start the fundraising effort as soon as the 2009-10 school year began.
"One little girl really touched me," said Carrasco. "She came up to me after the assembly, saluted me, and gave me a paper flag that she had made."
About 120 LRHS students attended the ceremony from both special education and history classes. About 40 members of Mission of Honor came to the assembly to meet their benefactors and speak to the students about war and their lives as veterans. Some of the veterans who came to LRHS that day came from as far away as Marlboro.
"The kids were very interested in what's going on, and it was a very good ceremony," said Carrasco. "These kids have their own problems in life, but they took the time to honor veterans that have been deceased for years. That is just amazing. It shows that there are people who care in this world, and I'm touched because these kids are going to be our future leaders."
The New Jersey Mission of Honor tries to locate, identify and inter the orphaned and abandoned cremains of American veterans through the joint efforts of the Vietnam Veterans of America's New Jersey State Council and other veteran organizations and to provide honor and respect to those who have served this country in time of peace and conflict.
Through the efforts of New Jersey Mission of Honor, the cremains of seven soldiers have been reunited with their families, and the unclaimed cremains of 10 veterans have been given a proper military internment. The group was only established about seven months ago.
The New Jersey Mission of Honor plans for another ceremony to give proper military internments to five cremains in Metuchen on Dec. 16. The group is also currently working on tracking down the unclaimed cremains of 38 veterans throughout the state, but as Carrasco said, "It just takes time to get the paperwork."
For more information about the New Jersey Mission of Honor visit www.njsmissionofhonor.org.
