The Honor Flight fundraiser was on Sept. 29 and was initiated by Michael Goodwin and Julie Ortlieb. The TUHS Oil Tech Academy worked with Taft Midway Sunset Lions for Honor Flight. It was held at the Albertsons parking lot. They prepared and sold tacos with the help of the locally famous, Flaco’s Tacos. Goodwin said, “A few years ago, Julie Ortlieb and I were interested in raising money for a local veteran to go visit the memorial grounds in Washington, DC.” Last year, they started selling water at the car shows and helped during Veteran’s Night at the little league baseball games.

For the inspiration of the fundraiser, he said, “As they grow old, I feared our younger kids wouldn’t see what they went through for us to have what we have today.” Senior, Bryson Ginn took on the fundraiser as his senior project. Goodwin said, “The fundraiser was outstanding. Flaco’s Tacos and Carlos Chavira were great. We almost met our goal and it’s amazing.” We talked to Carlos Chavira about why it’s important to have Honor Flight and he said, “As an American, it’s important to show our veterans gratitude and honor for protecting our borders and liberties.” They hope to send 2-4 local veterans to the memorial grounds in the spring.

Goodwin said, “Many veterans haven’t been able to go back and see the memorials. They fought so we could grow up and make memories. We would like to give back by paying for a vet and a guardian to go and visit the memorial.” They are closer to sending four of our local veterans. Goodwin said, “When we started the fundraiser, we thought finding the veterans would be easy but we have a harder time finding them. We are looking for help from our local veterans.” Honor Flight gives the students a chance to learn about the struggles our local veterans encountered and gives the veterans an opportunity to revisit the memorial grounds.