Photo by: David Lorish
“Buy a soldier a beer,” read the T-shirts sold by the DU College Republicans last week as a fundraiser to raise money for supplies to send overseas.
This fundraiser was a part of Support Our Troops Week, which was one of the College Republicans’ biggest events of the year.
Students were encouraged to write letters to the troops and fundraise for care package supplies, both on campus and off.
“We held a packing party on Driscoll Lawn to put all of the donations together into packages to be sent to Iraq,” said Larissa Cain, secretary for DU’s College Republicans.
An organization called Victory Boxes will distribute all of the letters and care packages that students gathered.
“It is a military organization,” said Cain. “We give them all of our collections, and they send it over to our soldiers.”
These efforts to reach out to the troops serving overseas have special meaning to some who are working on the project. DU Chapter President Kevin Poyner has relatives fighting in the war in Iraq.
“I have three cousins in the military. One just got discharged after an accident in Iraq. One is in training getting ready to go to Iraq and one is at West Point,” said Poyner.
Poyner’s cousins are in the Army infantry, although one has already served two rotations in Iraq and has been medically discharged. One of his other cousins is leaving for his first tour in a few weeks. They are all in their twenties.
“Two of them have newborn children and pregnant wives,” said Poyner. “It is always hard on their families when they leave.”
Poyner’s personal connection with the war has made organizing a successful Support Our Troops Week more important to him.
“I know for my cousins, whether in Iraq, training or at West Point, they all enjoy hearing from home,” said Poyner. “Everyone there misses their families, and they are required to be there whether they support the war or not.”
He urged people to get involved and “not focus on the debate about the war, but focus on just supporting our troops.”
Erica Castelo, state chairman of the College Republicans, also knows someone who has recently gone overseas, leaving two sons behind. He will be in Baghdad for a total of 14 months.
She said that knowing someone fighting “does change the way you look at our soldiers. Instead of being brave men and women, they are the father of the children you babysat for.”
The College Republicans work with campaigns in other states and travel Colorado supporting other chapters, as well as holding other events throughout the year, including Islamo Facism Awareness Day. The College Republicans is the oldest and largest student-run organization in the country. Founded in 1892, the organization has chapters in all 50 states. The DU chapter meets every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the Conference Room behind Jazzman’s Café.
