JROTC Cadets Honored by Philadelphia Eagles, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Twilight Wish

Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) cadets from South Philadelphia High School were honored for their fundraising efforts during an assembly attended by second quarter honor roll students, members of the Philadelphia Eagles, and representatives from Teva Pharmaceuticals and Twilight Wish Foundation on Tuesday, March 8, 2011.

Last fall, over 700 JROTC cadets from high schools throughout Philadelphia held fundraisers and worked hard to raise money to grant the wishes for 120 veterans of the Coatesville VA Medical Center on November 9, 2010.   The high schools included South Philadelphia, Roxborough, Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia Military Academy at Leeds, Elverson, Frankford, Martin Luther King, Bartrum, Overbrook, and Benjamin Franklin. The cadets from South Philadelphia High School raised the most money, totaling $900.   Teva Pharmaceuticals, through a collaboration with the Philadelphia Eagles, donated funds to help grant the wishes and also matched the total amount raised by the cadets.  As part of that collaboration, former Eagles great, Jeremiah Trotter and several Eagles cheerleaders surprised the students during an assembly and honored them for their hard work. 

Cass Forkin, executive director of Twilight Wish, presented the cadets with the first Intergenerational Twilight Wish Award for their efforts in making wishes come true for deserving senior citizens.  Keith Lomax, Battalion Commander for South Philadelphia High School, accepted the award on the cadets’ behalf.