The 2020 State of Hawai‘i VFW Voice of Democracy (VOD-HI) winner is Alexandrea Wong (holding certificate), a high school senior at St. Andrews Priory, for her four-minute audio essay on “What Makes America Great.” She was awarded a $500 check, VFW certificate and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete nationally for a $30,000 VFW first-place scholarship paid directly to a university, college or technical/ vocational school. Also pictured (L–R) are George Barlett, chair, VOD-HI; James Kahalehoe, commander, Windward O‘ahu Post 10154; Ron Lockwood, VFW-HI acting commander; Gerri Enos, VFW-HI Auxiliary VOD chair; and Take Shiroma, president, VFW-HI Auxiliary.

The 2020 State of Hawai‘i VFW Voice of Democracy (VOD-HI) winner is Alexandrea Wong (holding certificate), a high school senior at St. Andrews Priory, for her four-minute audio essay on “What Makes America Great.” She was awarded a $500 check, VFW certificate and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete nationally for a $30,000 VFW first-place scholarship paid directly to a university, college or technical/ vocational school. Also pictured (L–R) are George Barlett, chair, VOD-HI; James Kahalehoe, commander, Windward O‘ahu Post 10154; Ron Lockwood, VFW-HI acting commander; Gerri Enos, VFW-HI Auxiliary VOD chair; and Take Shiroma, president, VFW-HI Auxiliary.

Like our friends at PBS, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the VFW Auxiliary work to be relevant to all ages with early childhood through end-of-life programming.

“Patriot Pen” and “Voice of Democracy” programs are available to all public and private middle school and high school students. Building off of lessons learned early in life through shows like “Sesame Street,” “Conjunction Junction” and other PBS offerings, our VFW programs utilize their writing skills to earn scholarship money at the local, state and national levels. For middle schoolers in the upcoming school year, “What is Patriotism to Me?” will be the theme. For high schoolers, “Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned?” will be the topic. All the details can be found in each county through any of our 21 VFW Posts and through the VFW Auxiliary or at www.vfw.org.