A group of Lacombe Composite High School students made a donation yesterday to a project honouring soldiers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Students of the Rotary Interact Club presented Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins with a cheque for $1100. 

Calkins says the money will go towards bringing a Light Armoured Vehicle and monument to Lacombe paying tribute to those who served in Afghanistan "we've got 158 names of Canadians who gave their lives in Afghanistan, we're going to make sure that each one of them is honoured and remembered in this memorial.  Of course we all know the last soldier to lay down his life in Afghanistan is from our community here; Byron Greff was the last fatality we had there, it's a very sad thing, but we're also very proud of him, he's a home town hero".

The MP also commended the youth in our community for wanting to honour our veterans "these kids are energetic, they warmed my heart to see young people, a generation of young people getting involved and recognizing, it's just great community spirit and good citizenship.  I encourage people in Lacombe especially and surrounding area to get behind the project and if they have the wherewithal to consider making a contribution".

Calkins says in total the project will cost between 80 and 100 thousand dollars. 

With this latest donation, they sit at about 20 thousand dollars.

The fundraising will continue, and Calkins says if you hear a knock on your door in the New Year, it may be some students selling window stickers to help raise money for the cause.