Abigail Ballard, a senior at Donegal High School, was the first-place winner of the 2025-26 Voice of Democracy (VOD) essay contest, sponsored by Mount Joy VFW Post 5752.

Abigail was presented the award by George Leyh, VOD chair for the post. She also gave a speech at the annual Veterans Day assembly at Donegal High School on Nov. 11.

Coming in second place in the essay contest was Andrew Hissner, and third place was awarded to Colton Houck.

Created in 1947, the VOD scholarship program is an audio-essay contest for students in grades nine to 12 that annually provides more than $2.5 million in scholarships. Awards are given for winning essays at the post, district and state levels. The first-place national winner, named after a competition featuring all the first-place state winners, receives a $30,000 scholarship paid directly to the recipient's American university, college or vocational/technical school.

Besides competing for the top scholarship prize, as well as other national scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $16,000, each department's first-place winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C.

The VOD program is endorsed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals' contest criteria and is designed to foster patriotism by allowing students the opportunity to voice their opinion in a three- to five-minute essay based on an annual theme.

Historically, the theme, which is annually chosen by the VFW commander-in-chief, is purposely kept broad in scope to allow the participant flexibility in interpretation to encourage originality. Since the VFW is a patriotic organization, the annual theme is always related to patriotism. The theme this year was "How Are You Showing Patriotism and Support for Your Country?"