10—The Sentinel
WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA
Organization’s year round effort seeks to remember, honor, teach By BRIAN COX Remember. Honor. Teach. They are three words. But to the thousands of passionate volunteers affiliated with Wreaths Across America, they are so much more. To them, it’s the three pillars of the whole organization. And it’s a mission that never ends. Started in 1992 by a wreathmaker in Maine named Morrill Worcester, Wreaths Across America now honors veterans in all 50 states and Puerto Rico each year by placing more than 1.7 million wreaths at more than 2,500 cemeteries, from the famous like Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, to thousands of small, local burial sites, like Mount Rock Cemetery in Lewistown. The group is perhaps most famous for decorating the graves of deceased military veterans each December with a natural balsam wreath and
handmade bow. But the organization works all year to not only plan this solemn remembrance of those who have served our nation, but to help local groups who support the military by allowing them to sell wreath sponsorships as a means of fundraising. “We remember veterans by placing these wreaths but we honor them,” said Amber Caron, the director of communication for Wreaths Across America. “We work with other non-profits through a fundraising program. Our wreaths are $15 to sponsor a wreath and through our fundraising program, groups can use it as a fundraiser for their own program locally.” She cited an example by which a local VFW sells a wreath sponsorship and of the $15 price, $5 is returned to the VFW. “Through that program in the past 11, 12 years, Wreaths Across America has given
Photos courtesy WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA
Wreaths lay on veterans’ graves and a blanket of fresh snow at Arlington National Cemetery. What Wreaths Across America started here in 1992 has now grown to more than 2,500 cemeteries serving as the final resting place of more than 1.7 million U.S. military veterans.
Marvin E. Smith COAL SALES 717-242-8512
