American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1980 to Present Award
The American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1980 will be awarding a young man, Garrett Hall, a National Auxiliary Award for his Good Deed helping the less fortunate in Teller County, Colorado, at the Ute Pass Cultural Center in Woodland Park at 3:30 pm on 29 October 2023.
ALA Unit 1980 received a nomination from Brian & Alanna Crawford, about Garrett Hall’s amazing selflessness. Garrett participates in a Teller County 4-H club, this year was his first year. He was focused on raising two steers. He had an amazing idea that he would like to donate 100% of all the meat from his second steer to his local community in need.
Young Hall’s first steer won Grand Champion, and he received a generous amount for that steer through auction. He, with his family’s support, decided to donate the second steer through the Aspen Mine Center’s food bank, located in Cripple Creek, Colorado. He had a bit of a set back though. He lost his second steer just before the Teller County Fair. Garrett being a young man of his word, still wanted to keep his promise. He was able to obtain another feeder steer to use to keep his promise and give back to a community that had supported him.
Garrett excelled at showing for his first year. He raised his calves from November 2022 until August 2023. He put in countless hours feeding, washing, training, & cleaning stalls. He also took on the financial commitment of the calves, feed, supplements and show supplies. Garrett also took on the financial responsibility to have the replacement cow professionally slaughtered and packaged. 29 September 2023, he took 100 pounds of beef to the Aspen Mine Center Food Bank and helped distribute it to the clients of the Aspen Mine Center.
“Garrett is an impeccable young man, caring, respectful, and hard working. What a great way to use what he is learning to help our local community.” – Alanna Crawford
Cynthia Sipes chairs the Hero/Good Deed Program for Unit 1980. She stated, “Garrett is an example for all the youth in our community. He put a lot of hard work and dedication into these animals. He didn’t give up and when he lost his second steer, he still wanted to stay true to his promise to donate a steer for food to his community. This is the reason the American Legion Auxiliary created this award. We need to highlight youth who make a difference, not to be in the spotlight, but because they genuinely want to give back. We have been identifying youth for this award for the past four years. When our community sees our youth stepping up, more step up and the adults start supporting the programs which foster them.”
Included in the email with this release are candid pictures of Garrett, as well as pictures from him donating and helping distribute the meat to his community. Young Hall will be receiving this award at a 4-H Awards banquet, in front of his peers who also participate in the Teller County 4-H program. Permission to share this story and pictures comes from his parents JC & Kelsey Hall. We would love to have you at the awards ceremony. Setup for media is at 3:15 pm at the Ute Pass Cultural Center. For more information, please contact Cynthia Sipes.
