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At 9 a.m. on Feb. 12 Lyons ElementarySchool student Samantha Torres will present baskets of candy and other supplies to Ellington Air Force Base personnel in appreciation of their military service. Through her work with the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 77, where she is a junior auxiliary member, she has secured a donation of $1,000 from Houston Community College and is using it to stock USO hospitality rooms at Ellington Air Force Base, Hobby Airport and Bush Intercontinental. USO Houston is a nonprofit organization dedicated to lifting the spirits of the nearly 50,000 troops and military families who visit the USO centers at Houston’s three airports, as well as the 8,000 military personnel based in Greater Houston.

Torres also will use the funds to purchase a table at the Armed Forces Ball for HCC Military Students and help send a Reagan High School student to Girl’s State. She received the money by completing a “poppy scrapbook” and entering it in Unit 77’s contest. The purpose of the event is to honor the U.S. Military and teach students the meaning of words such as service, honor, country, and dedication.

“At Lyons we feel it is important for the children to understand their freedoms and how others have stepped forward to guarantee that we keep them,” said Lyons physical education teacher Myra J. Erwin, who is also an auxiliary member of the American Legion.