ORLANDO, Fla. – Members of The Veterans of Foreign Wars in Orlando participated in a project Tuesday to teach youth how to properly handle the American flag.
The project, dubbed the American Flag Restoration Project, was aimed at youth who were reintegrating into their home communities from juvenile justice residential programs, a release shows.
[TRENDING: Another Buc-ee’s in Florida? This county may be next to offer Beaver Nuggets | Hearing continued for Orlando woman accused of killing boyfriend in zipped suitcase | Become a News 6 Insider]
Veterans with The VFW 4287 Honor Guard held the ceremony Tuesday to show the children how to properly raise, lower, handle and retire an American flag respectfully, the release says.
“It’s good for them to learn how our nation came about and the men and women who have sacrificed — and made the ultimate sacrifice — for this nation,” Honorary Major of the VFW Honor Guard John Murphy said. “And also the men and women that are veterans at the school.”
The VFW said it teamed up with the Home Builders’ Institute and Eckerd Connects Project Bridge, the latter of which was developed with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to provide education and mentoring for those ages 11-21 reintegrating into their home communities from juvenile justice residential programs.
“It’s a good thing because they don’t get this kind of exposure, and I applaud the faculty here at this group to bring us in here to teach them a little bit about of our history and our flag,” Murphy said.
Project Bridge has an 86% success rate of youth not reoffending within 12 months of program completion, according to project officials.
To learn more, visit Eckerd Connects’ website here.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: