GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A local teen was honored Thursday for her fundraising efforts to benefit veterans!
Alice Kraatz served as president of Michigan’s Children of the American Revolution at just 13 years old. As president, she sold bracelets and raised $140,000 to send 80 Vietnam veterans to Washington, D.C.
Now 17, Alice received the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award, presented by former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, at the 36th Annual National Philanthropy Day Awards.
The event was held at Amway Grand Plaza Hotel by the West Michigan chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
“I was told a story when I was about 8 from a grandfather of my brother's friends that when he came home from the Vietnam War, … he wanted a steak dinner the first thing. And the moment he stepped outside, somebody spat in his face,” Alice told FOX 17. “As a little kid, I could never understand that.”
It was that story that spurred Alice to give back to veterans who fought in the Vietnam War.
Alice recalled joining those veterans on the Honor Flight to D.C.
“I've been to Washington, D.C. plenty of times, but it was an utterly new experience to see it through the eyes of a veteran, and especially a veteran who hadn't been given that welcome home,” says Alice.
She tells us she plans to remain as involved as much as she can while pursuing a career in professional ballet dancing.
READ MORE: 14-year-old Kalamazoo girl raises money for a Vietnam Veteran Honor Flight
