Students Hand Over Winter Gear to Rapid City Veteran Shelter

Students from local Catholic schools in Rapid City, South Dakota, donated a supply of warm clothing to the Cornerstone Rescue Mission on Monday. The shelter serves homeless veterans in the community.

The delivery included gloves, pants, socks, hats, pajamas, and thermal underwear. The schools funded the purchase of these items through student fundraisers or by allocating extra school funds.

This is the seventh year that students from these specific schools have bought and donated clothes to the organization. The tradition continues a long-standing partnership between the educational institutions and the non-profit.

Student Council President at St. Thomas More High School commented on the effort. "I think it's really important that we all, in our day-to-day, we just focus on doing what we can to make the world a better place," the student said. "I think we did a beautiful job with that today."

Lysa Allison, the executive director of Cornerstone, noted that the partnership aligns well with the mission's values. "I think it's great that the parents and the teachers want children to learn about giving and self-sacrifice and looking beyond their homes and to the larger world to give," Allison said.

Allison described the reaction of the veterans receiving the gifts. "Many of them have had kind of a tough life, and they're not used to people being kind to them or giving to them," she explained. "They're on the receiving end for once, and I think it's very heartwarming for them, very heartfelt, something they're not used to getting."

The shelter accepts warm clothing from now until likely April. New individuals arrive at the mission daily, creating a continuous need for these supplies. Financial donations are also accepted at the facility located at 30 Main St.