It was not only a time to celebrate the coming holiday but to honor a fallen hero on Nov. 13 during the 4th Annual Cultural Diversity Feast at Lower Bucks Campus.
The highlight of the afternoon was when the College’s own Veteran’s Club gave a $2,000 check to the Epp family; a local family who lost their son, Naval Veteran Jason Epp, 23, in a motorcycle accident on Sept. 15 this year.
Jason Epp served four years in the Navy as an Aviation Ordinance 3rd Class. He served as 1st responder to the Haiti and Chili earthquakes and in South Korea to help train military.
“No, we (The Veteran’s Club) didn’t know Jason personally, but all of the students on campus got involved with helping raise money for this veteran who died in a motorcycle accident,” said Mike Gonzalez, 29, nursing major and president of the Bucks County Community College’s Veteran’s Club.
When the Veteran’s Club heard through the local news that Epp died in a motorcycle crash the club began to raise money to help the family.
The club went about raising money for this check by having an IPad 3 raffle that sprawled across all three campuses at Bucks. The Veterans Club raised $2,000 in all with the raffle.
What made it even more special was that the IPad 3 that was being offered in the raffle was donated. The club was able to put all of the funds made in the raffle into the check for the Epp family.
The check was presented to Epp’s Father, Navy veteran Walter Epp, from Bristol Township, during the feast. Walter Epp served his time in the military as a Boatswain’s Mate 3rd class.
All of the money is intended to be put into an endowment fund for Jason Epp’s newborn daughter, Kali Rose Epp.
“It was a surprise,” the Naval Vet said. “We (The Epp family) had help of course, but we didn’t know there was a veteran’s club on campus.”
But in the end, The Veteran’s Club and Gonzalez couldn’t have done such a wonderful deed without the campus’ participation. “We have to not only thank the Veteran’s Club members and the college, but all of the students and faculty that participated in the raffle for giving us the funds to give to the Epp family,” said Gonzalez
The event was best summed up by the ample amounts of food, culture and most especially, the sense of giving back to the community as the holiday season rolls around the corner.
“It is a nice atmosphere and a nice pre-holiday get-together,” said Dr. Pricilla Rice, assistant academic dean of health, physical education, and nursing at Bucks.