VFW Announces Student Winners of the Florida Voice of Democracy & Patriot’s Pen Essay Contests

VFW Post 7721 is proud to announce two local Collier County students who were sponsored by the local Post have been named winners of two statewide VFW contests.

Kailyn Dekker of Mason Classical Academy in Naples was named the VFW Department of Florida’s second-place winner and recipient of a $5000 scholarship award in the 2025 Voice of Democracy Scholarship program. The Voice of Democracy competition which began in 1947 provides high school students with the opportunity to speak out on freedom and democracy. The worldwide audio-essay competition requires entrants to write and record a three-to-five-minute essay on a patriotic-based theme. “Is America Today Our Forefathers’ Vision?” was this year’s theme.

Torin Kelly, a student at Pine Ridge Middle School in Collier County, received the First-Place Award in the VFW Patriot’s Pen Patriotic Essay on the VFW theme “My Voice in America’s Democracy.” The Patriot’s Pen winner received a total of $7,000 in scholarships.

The VFW enacted the Patriot’s Pen youth essay competition in 1995 to encourage young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society while improving their writing skills. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) started the Voice of Democracy Scholarship program in 1947, and the VFW became a national sponsor in the late 1950s and assumed sole responsibility for the program in 1961. The competition was created to provide students in grades 9-12 with the opportunity to express themselves regarding democratic ideas and principles. Around 40,000 students participate in the competition each year and VFW awards more than $2.1 million in scholarships every year.
VFW Post 7721 is committed to supporting veterans, active-duty service members, and the local community through various programs, events, and partnerships. As a long-standing pillar in the Naples community, the post remains dedicated to honoring and empowering those who have served our nation.
About the VFW: The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is the nation’s largest and oldest major war Veterans’ organization. Founded in 1899, the congressionally chartered VFW is comprised entirely of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, Guard and Reserve forces. With more than 1.5 million VFW and Auxiliary members located in over 6,000 Posts worldwide, the nonprofit veterans service organization is proud to proclaim “NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS” than the VFW, which is dedicated to veterans’ service, legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs. For more information or to join, visit our website at vfw.org.