(Cranberry Township, PA) Students in an art club resurrected at BC3 @ Cranberry one year ago after disbanding during the COVID-19 pandemic sat elbow-to-elbow Thursday around a studio table littered with colored pencils, markers, paints and heavyweight paper to realize their goal to design handmade thank-you cards for military veterans.
Cards created by the half-dozen 19- to 21-year-olds will be mailed Butler County Community College student-veterans or reservists whose names are listed on a roster that club members received, or presented to veterans after a Nov. 11 program at a nearby retirement community.
“We should honor those who have served, or who are serving,” said Kim Lahoz-Ruiz, 19, the art club president and a BC3 @ Cranberry general studies student from Cranberry Township. “We thought this was the perfect way to honor them and show how grateful we are for them.”
BC3 has 104 student-veterans enrolled this fall at its six locations or in online classes or programs, according to Stella Smith, the college’s veterans coordinator and its associate director of financial aid.
“The engagement of students in our community”
Among them, Doug Diaz IV, a 40-year-old BC3 @ Cranberry general studies student whose eight years in the Army included his guarding a military site in Guam as a military police officer.
“This means a lot,” said Diaz, of Evans City. “This shows that they care. They are thinking about veterans and what we have done. A thank-you can make any veteran happy.”
"A thank-you can make any veteran happy.”
Yumiko Kuo, art club vice president, and other students plan to deliver 30 cards to Sherwood Oaks after a Veterans Day program in the facility’s auditorium.
“I am very happy to see the engagement of students in our community,” said Roberta Breninghouse, director of recreation and activities for Sherwood Oaks’ health center.
“I think this is a great initiative on their part, that they would think of something creative to do to represent their respect for our veteran population.”
A “thoughtful and aware group of students”
Neither Kuo, 19, a BC3 @ Cranberry graphic design student from Cranberry Township, nor Lahoz-Ruiz have a relative who served in the military.
This just demonstrates the thoughtful and aware group of students that we have at BC3,” said Megan M. Coval, the college’s interim president.
“They are so talented and could share that talent with anyone. But to choose the special population of veterans shows they really have an understanding of the way in which those individuals have served our country and how meaningful that is.”
“Sometimes we think students who are in Gen-Z are in their own world and aren’t in tune with the bigger picture.
... they know that Veterans Day is coming, so their immediate inclination is to recognize those who served.”
Carson King, 19, is an art club member and BC3 @ Cranberry graphic design student from New Brighton. Her grandfathers, she said, served in the Navy.
Michael Palladino, 21, of Zelienople, is another art club member and graphic design student whose grandfathers served in the military.
“Veterans put their own lives in danger for all of us in some way, shape or form,” Palladino said. “It’s important to show them that we care. We acknowledge that you made a great sacrifice and that you are a hero.”
Some veterans “don’t always get a card”
Dr. Ryan Kociela is director of BC3 @ Cranberry, whose lobby this week featured a drawing on a whiteboard of Snoopy saluting with one hand and grasping the pole of the stars and stripes in the other.
“Veterans put their own lives in danger for all of us in some way, shape or form. It’s important to show them that we care."
“Sometimes we think students who are in Gen-Z are in their own world and aren’t in tune with the bigger picture,” Kociela said. “This says a lot to me about our students. From a service perspective, they know that Veterans Day is coming, so their immediate inclination is to recognize those who served.”
Jordan Robinson, 21, of Butler, is an art club member and general studies student at BC3 @ Cranberry whose uncle served in the Air Force.
Across the studio table was Finnegan Stewart, 19, of Evans City, a graphic design student whose great-grandfather served in the military.
“Making handmade cards means a little more than sending a store-bought card with a premade message."
Robinson, Finnegan, King, Palladino, Lahoz-Ruiz and Kuo, and art club faculty adviser Michael Putorti created the cards on 140-pound watercolor paper.
Printed or handwritten in red or blue on the first completed handmade cards were “THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE,” “THANK YOU for your service” or “Thank you FOR YOUR SERVICE.” Some art club members added a bald eagle, a heart-shape filled with the stars and stripes or a flag appearing to flap in the wind.
Kuo said she thinks many veterans at Sherwood Oaks will have relatives thanking them on Veterans Day, “and sometimes, some won’t, so they don’t always get a card.
“All we can do is to thank them for their service and show that we appreciate it. Making handmade cards means a little more than sending a store-bought card with a premade message.
“We wanted to do this project so they could feel the appreciation for what they have done. I hope they enjoy the cards.”
Viqtory this spring designated BC3 as a Military Friendly School for an eighth time.
The service-disabled, veteran-owned small business in Moon Township assesses educational institutions nationwide. Its 2024-2025 Military Friendly School designation is weighted on factors that include culture and commitment.
