For the 18th year in a row, and for the last time as a teacher, Truesdale Mayor Jerry Cannon and his students collected donations for the Harbor Light Veterans Homeless Shelter in St. Louis.
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For the 18th year in a row, and for the last time as a teacher, Truesdale Mayor Jerry Cannon and his students at Wentzville Middle School traveled to the Harbor Light Veterans Homeless Shelter in St. Louis to distribute the items from their clothing drive on Dec. 6.
Cannon and his students had been collecting coats, blankets and personal care items for homeless veterans for the past month and by the end they had collected over 8,000 pounds worth of items for the homeless shelter.
“I just want to thank everyone that donated and found it in their heart to have a passion like I have for homeless veterans,” said Cannon. “I don’t think that any homeless veteran should ever go cold or not have a place and not have the things that they need.”
The Harbor Light Homeless Shelter in downtown St. Louis is partnered with the Salvation Army to provide aid and shelter to the city’s homeless veteran community. With the bite of winter quickly encroaching on the St. Louis area, the aid was needed now, more than ever.
“I got a call from the Salvation Army on Monday, and they were pretty much just desperate, they said they had nothing to give people during this latest cold spell, and so we’re going to provide them with a whole bunch,” said Cannon.
While the bulk of the donations were collected at the Wentzville Middle School where Cannon teaches, he said a significant portion was collected at Truesdale City Hall.
“It’s been pretty heartening to see the Truesdale community, the Warren County community, partnering up with Wentzville Middle School to have all the stuff that we can take to take care of our homeless veterans,” said Cannon.
Cannon and his students helped to distribute the aid to people attending the drive. Veterans were able to receive a new coat, up to two pairs of pants, up to two shirts, a package of socks, a package of underwear and a variety of personal care items including body wash and shampoo.
Even though he has been involved with this drive for nearly two decades, this year’s work was especially meaningful, as it will be his last time conducting the drive as a teacher.
While he still intends to maintain his involvement in the coming years, Cannon will retire from teaching at the conclusion of this school year.
“It’s very emotional, I love teaching, I have had a passion for this and a passion for helping kids for 30 years, … and I’ve been blessed with good students, blessed with good people to work with, and it’s just a passion that probably will never leave me,” said Cannon.
