Northampton Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4714 held its Voice of Democracy breakfast and competition awards reception Dec. 17, 2022, at Samuel Owens Restaurant and Bar, 128 Chestnut St., Coplay.

The Voice of Democracy program is an annual nationwide scholarship program sponsored by the VFW. It is an audio-essay contest for high school students in grades 9-12. The program annually provides more than $2.3 million in scholarships to successful entries.

The Voice of Democracy program began in 1947. There are approximately 40,000 grade 9-12 participants nationwide. The national first-place winner receives a $30,000 award that gets paid directly to the recipient’s American university, college or vocational/technical school as he or she matriculates.

Northampton VFW 4714 Commander Larry Schlittler led the event. He thanked all for attending the awards breakfast and stressed the value of assisting young people in their future academic endeavors.

Schlittler presented monetary awards to Northampton Area High School 11th-graders Anna Hirsch, as the first-place district winner, and Chloe Markle, the second-place district winner. The third-place district winner was 12th-grade student Natalie Mullen, who was unable to attend the event.

Their high school teacher/adviser, Jerry Batcha, was present to support the winners and the program. A number of VFW veterans were in attendance and sharply dressed in blue military dress uniforms. Family members of the award recipients also attended.

The national VFW designated the essay theme for 2022-23 as “Why is the veteran important?”

With Anna Hersch placing first in the district competition, she is automatically entered into the Pennsylvania state-level competition, to be held Jan. 21 in Gettysburg. If successful at the state level, Hirsch will advance to the national competition, held in Washington, D.C., in the spring.

If Hirsch prevails at the state level, she will receive a minimum $1,000 scholarship and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete at the national level.

All of the three winners competed against numerous other applicants at the VFW district level. They received, in addition to the scholarship money award, jackets, backpacks and a certificate of achievement.