Youth volunteers help send veterans on a trip to our nation’s capital

SOUTH BELOIT, Ill. (WTVO) — Residents showed their country pride as veterans prepared to take a trip to Washington D.C. on Friday.

“All the people lined up along the road holding flags, holding signs,” said Vetsroll volunteer Evan Benkovich. “Makes you really understand that there’s still a ton of people who have a lot of pride for the country that they live in.”

Benkovich is one of the many youth volunteers heading out to the capital with hundreds of veterans. He is part of a growing trend of young volunteers, Vetsroll President Mark Finnegan explained.

“We’ve seen a trend here in the Vetsroll trip hit the last several years,” said Finnegan. “Now, in a day and age where it’s just harder to get people to sign up for anything and volunteering for things, We’re seeing a trend now where we’re getting more and more young assistants, say, under age 30, that have been signing up to go on a trip.”

Finnegan said the increased participation benefits everyone, including veterans like Donnie Bergquist.

“It blew me away to see all these younger folks, younger guys and gals on the trip,” said Bergquist. “I had no idea that these kids would all volunteer to do this for us. You know, and for us and their country and, you know, you mean to tell me these kids actually volunteer their time to go do this? Yes, they do.”

The veteran explained youth volunteers have the chance to gain a lot of knowledge from them.

“The youth recognizing what the oldest and greatest generation has done for us and being able to learn from these people while we still can and be able to take those experiences from those conversations and bring them to our everyday life,” said Bergquist.

The next Vetsroll trip to D.C. is set for May 18th through the 21st.

To learn more about Vetsroll visit the nonprofit’s website.