JROTC Cadets spread HOPE for holidays

Most teenage young men only have a few things on their minds: sports, cars and friends. But when people meet 16-year-olds Dustin and Austin Haubner, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets at Grant County High School in Dry Ridge, Ky., they quickly notice something unique about them. The first thing people notice is they are twins. Both of them are athletes. Austin is a track and field athlete while Dustin plays football. Like their older brother they joined JROTC. However, the thing most people notice is that they don't get far into a conversation with the brothers before they start talking about Helping Out People Everywhere, or HOPE.
HOPE is a non-profit organization that the brothers and their mother, Kimberly, started in February 2012 to help the homeless and needy in the northern Kentucky and Cincinnati areas. The effort started as a way for the family to cope with the deployment of Kimberly's husband, who was a police officer contracted to teach law enforcement techniques, during Christmas 2003. They called the event "County Christmas." "We had about 60 people show up at the middle school cafeteria where we held it," Kimberly explained. "We started out with people making cards for the troops; we served pizza and cake and Santa came by -- it was really all about the kids." From there sprang HOPE. Read the rest of the story on the site below.

Written by Rachael Tolliver

Retrieved 19 Dec 2013

http://www.army.mil/article/117070/JROTC_Cadets_spread_HOPE_for_holidays/