Page 12 - Sojourner Newsletter-Fall 2024 Final1

12 THE SOJOURNER

Brothers Len Bezar and Chuck Holloway, from Valley Forge Camp, Heroes of ’76, presented “Building The Flag”
in the Faith of Our Fathers Chapel, assisted by Brothers Herb Lynch, Gary Pirkig, and Bill Sanner.
(Photo credit: Mike Wertz)

Looking to the future, we face a few challenges first is the continuing increase in the cost of the program.
The 2024 student tuition increased to $525 per student. Concurrently, the cost for each chaperone went up to
$265. Next is the continuing challenge to coordinate the funding of transportation and tuition costs for
chapters to send students and chaperones to the Philadelphia area from across the country. In the past many
chapters have automatically expected the Spirit of America Education Foundation (SAEF) to cover most of the
tuition payments. This has resulted in significant unexpected expense against the SAEF funds over the last
two years. ($9,000 last year and $21,000 this year.) This support is a big part of SAEF’s purpose, but
excessive unplanned expenses will quickly evaporate SAEF’s ability to help anyone, so we must plan and
communicate better in the future Included in that challenge is the issue of finding adult chaperones willing and
able to accompany the students, and, in the case of chapters on the East Coast, to drive students to the event.
Last year we had several students for whom tuition had been awarded by their local chapters but did not have
transportation to attend. Another challenge is finding students who want to attend. Given the summer
conference dates, many who may want to attend have conflicting academic, family, and social events. We
encourage all Chapter points of contact to communicate with their local schools and youth groups, the
Americanism Committee and SAEF throughout the year to minimize these challenges.