Lumberton High Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Cadet SFC Kylan Locklear works Thursday with Cadet Major Brianna Richardson and others to help clear an area of leaves at Meadowbrook Cemetery in Lumberton, as part of the LHS JROTC service project which includes the cleaning of multiple cemeteries.
Lumberton High Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Cadet Private 2nd Class Hunter McGee, left, works Thursday with other cadets to clean up an area at Meadowbrook Cemetery in Lumberton, as part of the LHS JROTC service project which includes the cleaning of multiple cemeteries.
Lumberton High Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps C/1st Lt. Marah Locklear, right, and Cadet Major Brianna Richardson rake leaves during a clean up effort at Meadowbrook Cemetery in Lumberton. The cemetery is one of about three the JROTC members will work to clean in honor of fallen veterans as part of a service project.
LUMBERTON — Lumberton High Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets worked Thursday to clean up Meadowbrook Cemetery as part of its service learning project to aid the community and honor fallen veterans.
The service project will continue in the coming weeks to clean multiple cemeteries including Hollywood and Elizabeth Heights cemeteries, according to Kenneth Sinclair, adjutant for VFW Post 8969. During the project, students will work to clean head stones and areas around graves.
Sinclair said he hopes the students learn the importance of honoring veterans and “taking pride in your community” upon completion of the project.
“We’re trying to get everything cleaned up so we can find out where the veterans’ graves are,” said SFC Graylen Mitchell, a JROTC instructor at LHS, on Thursday.
Cadet Major Brianna Richardson, C/1st Lt. Marah Locklear and Cadet SFC Kylan Locklear were among several students who worked Thursday afternoon to rake leaves and clear an area around several grave stones. The group of about 12 cadets continued to serve even through a short interval of rain. Three groups of cadets served in the project on Thursday.
Kylan Locklear told The Robesonian that he was “glad to help out.”
“It means a lot especially to our program,” said Brianna Richardson, of the service project.
Richardson said the project is a way to give back to veterans who sacrificed much for freedoms enjoyed by Americans.
But, the project also helps beautify the community, said Cadet Private 2nd Class Hunter McGee.
“I think it just helps out nature and helps everything look a little better,” McGee said.
Sinclair, who served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, told The Robesonian that watching the students serve fallen veterans was “heartwarming” and “impressive.”
He hopes the service is something that cadets can “keep passing down.”
Someday, the cadets might even become veterans, he said. He hopes that the service project will be something they can remember and take with them through their future careers.
“You never know where you’re going unless you remember where you’ve been,” Sinclair said.
If members of the public wish to donate supplies to students for their service project, they can contact Sinclair at 910-736-0426.
Reach Jessica Horne at 910-416-5165 or via email at [email protected].
