Dear Donors,

    On behalf of the whole team I want to say thank you for donating to our cause. By donating you are not only having a huge lasting impact on all of us, but you are making our dreams a reality. Between the pandemic and a lack of funding, our program has not been able to put together a full team for the past two years. This year, we attempted to send a team to White Sands, New Mexico to compete against ROTC teams across the nation. However, due to the pandemic, the Department of the Army canceled the in-person event. Our team stayed optimistic and we instead registered for the virtual event with the funds you donated. We also purchased a wide variety of sustainment items such as nutritional snacks, electrolyte replenishers, and camelbak pouches. This year we also had enough funding to purchase recovery footwear for the whole team. All of these items will guarantee our success during our virtual event that will take place in Refugio Canyon, right here in Santa Barbara, on March 19th. This year we aim to commemorate the thousands of U.S. and Filipino prisoners of war that had to endure a grueling 65 mile march through the jungles of the Philippines while being deprived of food, water, and medical attention. I can personally guarantee you that on our 26.2 mile journey we will get a slight glimpse into what those soldiers had to endure, making this experience all worthwhile. Every week this team trains hard, not for themselves, but because we aim to honor the struggle and sacrifice of those that came before us. They know what this team stands for and represents. Thank you for recognising and supporting these goals. We are forever grateful for your patronage to our program, and we can not thank you enough for your support. 

Sincerely,

The UCSB ROTC Bataan Team