Over 30 VFW 2022 Voice of Democracy state winners traveled to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to attend the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge’s Spirit of America Youth Leadership program.

For years, the two organizations have been connected through the VFW’s Voice of Democracy program, a patriotic audio essay competition that, in 2022, had nearly 25,000 high school students competing for the $30,000 national grand prize scholarship.

Kathryn Doom was the Department of South Dakota state winner in this year’s contest. She attends Wagner Community School and was sponsored by VFW Post 7319 of Wagner.

Every year the top 53 VFW State Department winners from the 50 U.S. states, and from overseas areas in Europe and the Pacific, come to Freedoms Foundation each June to participate in a Spirit of America Youth Leadership program - a transformative four-day residential program that engages high school students from across the country with the first principles of freedom. Their experience is filled with inspiring and educational activities, including a mock congressional debate, free enterprise challenge, workshops, and historical site visits while developing their leadership skills and identifying their future contributions to society.

“The opportunity to meet, debate, and collaborate with such a diverse group of exceptional peers from across the United States and world was an incredible experience,” said VFW Department winner and Spirit of America student Abigail Marsters. “I will treasure this opportunity for the rest of my life.”

“For more than 75 years, the VFW has remained committed to connecting America’s youth with the importance of patriotism and freedom, so teaming up with the Freedoms Foundation was a natural choice,” said VFW Programs Director Lynn Rolf III. “Being able to provide our nation’s best and brightest high school students with an up-close and personal experience with their civil liberties in action helps to fortify them as America’s next great generation of leaders.”

The students participating in the Voice of Democracy program represent the finest of America’s rising generation,” said David Harmer, CEO of Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. “We’re honored to work with the Veterans of Foreign Wars in equipping these future leaders with a deep understanding of both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Here in Valley Forge, crucible of the American Revolution, they are not merely informed, but transformed into the thoughtful, informed patriots we need to safeguard our freedoms.”