KFOR RC East gives school essentials during holidays

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class E. L. Craig | CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo – Spc. Leo Parsley and Spc Christian Buitrago participates in a school supply donation at the Crepulja elementary school north of Zubin Potok, Kosovo on Dec. 17. These C Co., 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment Soldiers’ command worked with Liaison Monitoring Team’s kilo team four to make this mission happen. The 297th patrols the Kosovo Region’s Administrative Boundary Line while the LMT mission interacts with and keeps the KFOR command aware of community needs and local public views about KFOR’s mission at large.  

ZUBIN POTOK, KOSOVO

01.10.2020

Story by Sgt. 1st Class E. L. Craig 

40th Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo – With the spirit of the holiday season energizing them, KFOR vehicles climb steep and windy hills on a foggy day during a C. Co., 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment trip to deliver school supplies to children at Dren and Crepulja primary schools north of Zubin Potok, Kosovo on Dec. 17.

The company’s deployed mission includes patrolling the Kosovo Region’s Administrative Boundary Line. However, U.S. Army Capt. Eli Varney, C Co.’s commander, wanted to give his troops the opportunity to interact with the people of Kosovo and show them how much his Soldiers care about the people and mission.

“When you walk the ABL you have very limited interaction with the people of Kosovo and they only see you as [KFOR] Americans driving in vehicles past them,” said Varney. “By working with them, they’re able to see that you’re human like they are.”

These 297th Soldiers worked with Liaison Monitoring Team’s Kilo Team 4 to make this mission happen. The LMTs interact with and keep the KFOR command aware of community needs and local public views about KFOR’s mission at large.

“We wanted to engage more with the community,” said Varney. “Several of us reached back home to have school supplies sent; when they arrived we worked with the LMTs to find out which schools needed them most.”

Elementary schools in Worland, Wyoming and Grand Junction, Colorado donated the school supplies. Varney, a Wyoming Army National Guardsman, found that meeting school supply needs revealed a commonality between schools in Kosovo and the U.S.

“We’re giving basic supplies that we take for granted back home,” said Varney. “Just like our teachers back home…now they’re able to have an educational environment without taking funds out of their own pocket.
Aside from the school supplies distributed, the unit hopes the students and staff at Dren and Crepulja primary schools take away the meaning behind the gesture.

“It felt rewarding and humbling to visit the local schools,” said Spc. Leo Parsley, an infantryman with C Co., 1-297th Inf. Reg. “I hope the kids take away that the [KFOR] U.S. troops care, are willing to interact, and ideally help with anything that we can.”

For this unit and its commander who operates a non-profit organization in his Colorado hometown this donation opportunity presented another avenue of service.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing something bigger than myself,” said Varney. “This is a reminder that I need to continue to serve people.”

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• Date Taken: 01.10.2020
• Date Posted: 01.11.2020 09:21
• Story ID: 358802
• Location: ZUBIN POTOK, ZZ
• Hometown: GRAND JUNCTION, CO, US
• Hometown: WORLAND, WY, US