Local school honors first responders with ceremony and ‘Heroes Lunch’
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IDAHO FALLS — A local Catholic school honored first responders with a free lunch on Monday and thanked them for all they do to help keep the community safe.
The school invited local law enforcement, firefighters and veterans for a ceremony and lunch.
“We raised the flag and sang ‘God Bless America.’ We did the Pledge of Allegiance and we introduced the firemen and law enforcement,” said 11-year-old student Ali Murray.
The annual Heroes Lunch lets staff and students remember the sacrifices on Sept. 11 and honors all those who keep the community safe every day.
“I think they go unseen and unthanked. They do such a wonderful job and my favorite thing is to be able to say thank you. I think it’s a great example for our students to also see that we need to be grateful for these people keeping us safe and all of the hard work that they do,” said Carina VanPelt, principal at Holy Rosary Catholic school.
Lunch was a potato bar. Law enforcement and firefighters sat with children at different tables and answered any questions they had along with sharing stories about their job.
“It’s nice to be here with kids and to be honored. It’s good to be out with the kids and share with them what we do. They have a lot of questions and sometimes a lot of concerns,” said Scott Grimmett, fire marshal for the city of Idaho Falls Fire Department. “So to be able to have lunch with firemen and police officers and sheriff deputies, it’s nice to get to intermingle with them and answer their questions and kind of lessen the stress if they see us during emergency situations.”
For Murray, she said she would love to be a nurse or doctor one day at a trauma center. She’s very grateful to all those who protect the community, even when it can be tough at times.
“It sounds very scary to do that— to risk your life for other people’s lives but it’s a wonderful thing because it’s so nice that they do that for us to keep us safe by risking themselves,” Murray said.
