This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Veterans' Wreath Sponsorship Help Needed

The deadline for sponsoring a wreath for a veteran’s gravesite at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is only a few days away and quickly approaching – Monday, December 2nd – and we are far from reaching our goal of 1,000 wreaths.

 

If we do not reach our goal it is possible that on National Wreaths Across America Day on Saturday, December 14th, we are going to have volunteers but not enough wreaths to go around; which will be a great disappointment for a lot of people.

Find out what's happening in Florissantwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

As the site coordinator, I want to make sure everyone has a chance to experience that solemn moment of tribute and appreciation that has come to mean so much to so many people.  We don’t want to discourage people from coming to volunteer, but I am asking for your help in getting the word out so more people will sponsor a wreath.

Find out what's happening in Florissantwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Every $15 donation places one wreath on a veteran’s gravesite.  A $60 family sponsorship supports four wreaths.  Company or corporate donations of $150, $1,500 or more will sponsor many more wreaths and help us to our goal.

 

Sponsoring a wreath is a simple as going to www.wreathsacrossamerica.com and clicking on the “Sponsor a Wreath” button in the upper right of the site.  Please make sure to use our correct location code (MOJBNS) and group identifier (MOCAP098).

 

Many people have asked why wreaths during the holidays when there are so many living veterans with needs.  I agree with doing everything we can to support our veterans who sacrifice so much – but visit the WAA site and see how much this program means to our Gold Star families or the many families of veterans who have passed and just want to know all those sacrifices and lost holidays were not in vain.

 

Please help me share this message wherever you think we can do the most good.  Our goal is to honor 1,000 veteran’s gravesites with a wreath.  But to do that we need to get the word out, get more people involved, and make the gift of remembrance an annual tradition.

 

The Missouri Wing of the Civil Air Patrol is composed of over 1,000 members organized in almost forty units located throughout the state.  The wing conducted ten search and rescue missions, as well as six other state support missions, in 2012 and was credited with eight finds.

 

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with nearly 61,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. Its unpaid professionals also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 26,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 72 years.

 

For more information on Civil Air Patrol, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com, www.capvolunteernow.com, or www.mowgcap.us (Missouri Wing website).

 

Very respectfully,

David A. Miller, Lt Col, CAP

Deputy Director of Public Affairs

Missouri Wing, Civil Air Patrol

U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

wreaths.stlouis@gmail.com

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Florissant