Junior Landon Dupont and his family expressed their support for families of the armed services at a fundraiser benefiting the organization Little Patriots Embraced (LPE) at the Missouri Bluffs Golf Club, June 16.
Dupont fundraises for military organizations, as his father is currently serves for the United States Army.
“My dad has been serving for seventeen years and we’ve been through five moves,” Dupont said. “He’s a medical recruiter, so he recruits doctors into the army.”
The LPE Golf Shootout event featured three-person scramble teams on par three holes, with hole-in-one shootouts including a new car.
“It was really fun participating and volunteering in everything that was going on, and I’m glad it all goes to help families who need it,” junior Nolan Barbre said.
Dupont and his family were encouraged to get involved in events put on by LPE by Executive Director and Board President Carol Watanabe.
“Mrs. Watanabe’s husband is our orthodontist. She found out we were a military family, and started working with my mom,” Dupont said. “Events and fundraising helps kids who have lost parents to the war, and we help to donate toys, gifts, school supplies and things like that.”
Watanabe has volunteered for the organization for over 14 years in order to provide for families such as Dupont’s.
“Little Patriots Embraced has served over 60,000 military families since 2004. We adopt military families who are in need of extra help,” Watanabe said. “100 percent of funds raised at the shootout will go to military children’s programs.”
Dupont encourages members of the community to further volunteer and aid organizations who help military families.
“Military families are important people of our community,” Dupont said. “It’s important to get involved and support the families that support our country.”
![Alongside club sponsors Andrea Horn and Tim Burkard, assistant principal Kate Piffel prompts a discussion at the first Black Student Union (BSU) meeting. She accepted suggestions for BSU from members like BSU Leader and junior Tanatswa Zirengani, who moved from Zimbabwe in 2021. “Moving here and transitioning into a new school [and] lifestyle, [BSU] became [a place] where I could be myself and talk about issues that I felt comfortable talking about back home. BSU [also] gave me the opportunity to venture into the post-high-school experience, telling me [some] things to expect,” Zirengani said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/DSC_0120-1-1200x800.jpg)
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![Sophomore Isaiah Meese smiles after his Eagle Scout Ceremony. Meese has participated in the scouting program since first grade, learning new aspects of life and growing a community of a second family. “I almost didn’t do [boy scouting], but I'm glad I eventually did start doing it. I regret that I wasn't [working towards Eagle Scout during COVID]. It might not always seem like the most rewarding thing, but if you put your time into it, there's a good chance you'll get quite a lot out of it: friends, new activities and hobbies, or just more experience,” Meese said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_1004-1200x800.jpg)
![Junior Justin Lutz arranges his collection of basketball sports cards. Lutz started his first hand at entrepreneurship with an online store on eBay, dealing and trading in the sports card market. “I was already collecting sports cards [before], so I knew a lot of these players and I understood the market. I ventured into other sports, but I really stayed with the ones that I knew the most, [like] basketball. It’s really important to focus on what you know because it's so much easier than starting completely from scratch in a market that you don't understand. Find something that you're interested in," Lutz said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Untitled-design-2.png)
![Standing in front of the American Sign Language program’s mural, junior Brooke Hoenecke signs with freshman Darren Young. Hoenecke began cadet teaching for ASL this year alongside working towards earning her seal of biliteracy. “I was in ASL class when I received the email [that I qualified for the seal]. I was jumping up and down with my teacher and the rest of the class. One of the reasons why I took cadet teaching this year was so that I could prepare for the Seal of Biliteracy and be immersed in ASL,” Hoenecke said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/hoenecke.jpeg)
![With a keen eye for detail, senior Natalie Lashly writes her signature onto the senior hand wall. After some encouragement from her friends, Lashly applied to make the hand wall with her Lorax-inspired design. "I thought the [bright] colors would be fun. Our quote on the wall is 'Let us grow,’ based on the 'Let it grow' song [from the movie]. [I was hoping that the design would] make the cafeteria feel more exciting," Lashly said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0099-1200x801.jpg)
![Walking onto the field, freshman Erastus Adewusi wears a pink jersey in remembrance of cancer awareness month. With the number seven on his jersey, Adewusi reflects on his life in Nigeria before moving to America. “I [used to wake up] at 5:30 a.m. and school would end at 5 p.m. [versus] now,” Adewusi said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0029-1200x800.jpg)
Carol Watanabe • Jul 9, 2018 at 11:52 am
We thank the youth from Parkway West High and others around the community who donated their time for Little Patriots Embraced charity!