WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsRemembering our Troops

MADISON (WKOW)-- WKOW has partnered with the American Red Cross and Tweedee Productions to recognize people who have made a difference in our communities.

They are this year's Red Cross Real Heroes.

We honor a young woman we first told you about last spring, who wanted to make sure we don't forget about our troops serving overseas.

Jordyn Schara is 'Someone You Should Know.'

Jordyn Schara is never far from fighting for a social cause. But, the cause she took up was definitely far from home - That cause? American Soldiers in Iraq. Jordyn was determined to bring home closer to them.

"Since they'd been in Iraq for a while now, I think people were getting used to it and not really concentrating on it anymore or kind of forgetting about them," said Jordyn. "That's sad. They're risking their lives. That's not right. So, we realized that they needed help and we needed to bring help back to the troops."

After a couple of weeks of research, Jordyn and her brother, Josh started Project READ - Reading, Equipment for America's Defenders.

"We contacted the National Guard to see what it is they need the most," said Jordyn. "They said reading materials are one of the things they need the most. Something to remind them of home. Something that can comfort them and make them feel that they're not that far away."

Jordyn designed and set up camouflage collection boxes all around town.

"It started out slow at first," said Jordyn. "Then, after a while it was amazing how much came in, how many books, how many magazines we would be taking home from the donation boxes."

At about 100 boxes, they started packing them up to ship to the troops. Jordyn found out each box would cost almost 9-dollars to mail.

"Yes, it was very expensive and we thought WOW!," said Jordyn. "We have an entire kitchen table full of magazines and books and we can't afford to send them over. Then donations of money started coming in. We got over a thousand dollars of donations to help us send these over to the troops."

Jordyn chipped in with her baby-sitting money and organizations like the local banks, hospital and the VFW gave enough to send more than 2-thousand pounds of supplies to the troops.

"The people who donated the money and donated the books and magazines, that was the best part, seeing all these people in our community come together to help this cause," said Jordyn.

Through it all, Jordyn managed to keep up her A-grades, school basketball, piano, guitar, and a lead in the school play. But, all the collecting, packing and mailing for the troops may have taught her the best lesson of all.

"I grew up during this project," said Jordyn. "I wasn't as self-centered. I was more conscious of my community. And, I felt like I'd accomplished something. I felt like I helped the world. Now, I don't want to stop. I'm not going to stop. I'm going to keep this going."