Support Our Troops, a club started two years ago at New Trier, raises money and awareness for active soldiers, veterans, and their families.

Zach Peltz, president of the club and Scottie Chudacoff, vice president, founded Support Our Troops during their sophomore year. Originally, the club started with 20 members, and it has maintained that amount for the past two years. Peltz explained that the amount of members fluctuate depending on the season. “They vary seasonally depending on the sports season. In the fall, we maybe have 15 members, but once fall sports are over, we see around 20 or more,” he said.

The focus of Support Our Troops is to raise money and awareness for active soldiers, veterans and their families. Peltz and Chudacoff founded the club because they were upset that although there are many great clubs at New Trier, not one donated at least 30 minutes a week to give back to those who give their lives. “We wanted to make it non-partisan so we could draw the attention of everyone, and hopefully people would look beyond the fact of wars bad or wars good, and focus more on just helping out and giving back to the people,” explained Chudacoff.

Non-partisan, neither republican nor democrat, is how Support Our Troops deals with talking about the opinions of war. Although one group may support one aspect of war, another may have conflicting feelings about it, so the group tries to avoid talking about these topics.

The accomplishments of the year have so far been successful. During this first quarter of the year, the club has been working on a supply drive, which collects the 10 supplies that soldiers need most. Items include: Q-tips, socks, single serving snacks, lifesavers, gum, plain envelopes, pens, pencils, batteries, and global calling cards. They help through an organization called Support Our Troops America, which is based in Wilmette. The organization takes the supplies and distributes them to active soldiers around the world, whether they be in a base in Germany or in another state, according to Peltz. “Soldiers on bases in foreign countries don’t have access to basic supplies we have at home, so by providing these 10 items, we are allowing them 10 luxuries they don’t have access to wherever they’re serving.” So far this year, the club has collected 1,300 granola bars and hundreds of pounds of supplies.

The club also gathers supplies by enlisting the help of local businesses and New Trier advisories. The advisory that brings the most supplies wins a free breakfast.

In the future, the club wants to invite guest speakers to come and speak, as well as raise awareness for soldiers, said Peltz. Last year, the former commander of Seal Team 5 came in and talked to a total of 60 members, students and faculty at New Trier. The club hopes to have more guest speakers this year.

Once a year, the club goes to the USO at O’Hare airport. A student in the club has been able to arrange the trip in the past, and the club will be going again this year, according to Chudacoff. The USO is a meeting place and club for all the soldiers who are either flying to and from O’Hare, or passing through O’Hare to connect to other parts of the world. Last year, the club did everything from making sandwiches to personally thanking the soldiers for their service. “It was really nice because we were able to interact with them on a more personal level, and we were able to create relationships with them,” stated Peltz.

Support Our Troops meets every Wednesday after school for around 30 minutes. “Our philosophy is that we should meet for a short amount of time, but still have a big impact in helping these soldiers, veterans and their families,” explained Peltz. Sophomore Sophie Stempel explained what the group does during their meetings. “We talk about different ways to fundraise in order to buy supplies for troops around the world. We’re also trying to get a guest speaker to talk to our club and other students.”

Sophomore Jordy Richman said, “I really enjoy the feeling of giving back to people who do so much to make our country as safe as it is.” The members of the club find it to be very worthy of their time and makes them feel appreciated and of help to those who risk so much for us. Sophomore Sophie Kalt agreed with Richman. “I joined Support Our Troops so I could help our soldiers and veterans, as well as feel like a part of our country,” she said.