CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- On a sunny spring day at the Highlands Golf Club in Chesterfield, a class project by two James River High School seniors ended up raising tens of thousands of dollars to help combat veterans in Central Virginia.
James Dacey and Peyton Jones are both in a course called “Leadership in Action,” where seniors are asked to brainstorm and then execute a community service project.
Both want to enter the Navy upon graduation and hope to enroll at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Jones is a lifelong golfer, and the pair worked together at another local course last summer when they began brainstorming the idea.
Monday morning, dozens of golfers tee-ed off and helped sponsor the event, which raised more than $22,000 for the local non-profit Veterans and Athletes United.
CBS 6 profiled the group’s mission to honor the lives of the men and women killed during the War on Terror during a 2018 “Hero’s Among Us” segment.
The funds raised during the “Swing for Veterans” event will go to other veterans' programs run by VAU.
“VAU will use this money to do anything from help some these veterans take college-level classes to find jobs. They also take these veterans on retreats that are wheelchair accessible so they and their families can enjoy them,” Dacey said.
“I think sacrificing for our country is one of the biggest honors in the world, obviously for our country. Doing that is selfless in a sense. It’s putting your country before yourself, willing to put yourself out there on a line. You’ll see with the flag, some people paid the price for it, and it is important for us to come back and honor them for it,” Jones said.
Both said they expect to hear soon about their application to the Naval Academy.
You can learn more about Veterans and Athletes United here.