Bethel Park students continue tradition of serving breakfast to veterans

Election Day meant a day off school for most kids in Bethel Park, but a small group of students went to Independence Middle School, anyway, to serve breakfast to veterans.

Eleven middle school students and five high school students helped serve about 75 veterans in the IMS cafeteria on Nov. 8. It would have been the 11th year for the event, but covid forced its cancellation in 2020, and last year the school hosted a take-out breakfast outdoors.

“I have a very dedicated group,” said Jen Makel, IMS social studies teacher. “Not many teenagers would be willing to come out on their days off to help out like this, but here they are.”

Makel leads the Bring A Smile Club. In addition to organizing the veterans’ breakfast, its student members write letters and cards to veterans and active-duty service members.

“It’s my first year here and as soon as I heard about (the club), I knew I wanted to do it,” said Liam Handerham, seventh-grader.

Over a decade ago, in the midst of U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Makel asked her students to write letters to service members.

It quickly became clear that some students wanted to take it a step further, so the group that eventually became Bring a Smile Club hosted its first event, in which veterans were treated to coffee and cookies. Eventually the event evolved to a full breakfast with all the fixings.

“This is a really fun way to serve,” said Maggie Jaglowski, who also is in seventh grade.

Makel said her father probably inspired her interest in recognizing veterans. The Vietnam vet once told her the one thing that kept him going during the war was letters from home.

“That really stuck with me,” she said.