Help us honor 1,000 veterans this holiday season
Independence, Mo. – The City of Independence has joined the Independence Pioneers, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and Commerce Bank for the annual Wreaths Across America effort. This program honors veterans by placing wreaths on the graves of those who served our country. Wreaths Across America is a growing tradition in Independence, teaching the importance of remembering and honoring those who served our country. Woodlawn Cemetery has participated in Wreaths Across America since 2021.
The public is invited to participate by donating funds to purchase wreaths and volunteering to place the wreaths on the graves. Wreaths can be purchased on the Wreaths Across America website at wreathsacrossamerica.org/MO0095. To ensure your wreath donation benefits Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence, be sure the location says MO0095. Wreaths are $17 each, and if you buy two, Woodlawn Cemetery receives a third wreath free. The final day to donate is Tuesday, November 28, on National Giving Day.
"This is our third year participating in Wreaths Across America at Woodlawn Cemetery," City of Independence Parks, Facilities and Grounds Supervisor Perry Riley said. "This is an incredibly moving event. Just by saying their name and visiting their final resting place, we're recognizing those who served and sacrificed for our country."
Each year, the goal is to increase the number of wreaths placed on the gravesites. In the first year at Woodlawn Cemetery, sixty wreaths were donated. Last year, volunteers placed over 300 wreaths. This year, with the community's help, we hope to make that number 1,000.
"It is an honor for our chapter, Independence Pioneers, Daughters of the American Revolution, to be a part of Wreaths Across America," said Claudia McCarthy, Chairperson for the Wreaths Across America Committee for the Independence Pioneers, DAR. "We are proud to support the mission of Wreaths Across America to 'Remember the Fallen. Honor those who serve. Teach the next generation the value of freedom.'"
The public is invited to help place wreaths on Saturday, December 16, at 11 AM at Woodlawn Cemetery, 701 S. Noland Rd. For more information, call (816) 244-8933.
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About Wreaths Across America
In 1992, the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, had a truck-load surplus of wreaths at the end of the season. Remembering a trip to Arlington Cemetery as a boy, Morrill Worcester donated 5,000 wreaths to honor those who served. The tradition went unrecognized for over a decade until a single photo began circulating the internet in 2005. In 2006, Wreaths Across America received requests for thousands of wreaths all across America. Wreaths Across America honors and remembers those who served our Country from the Revolutionary War to present-day conflicts. Their goal is to place wreaths on every grave of the American soldier worldwide, no matter their location. To learn more, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org.
About Independence Pioneers, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
The DAR, founded in 1890, is a national, non-profit organization of volunteer women's service striving to promote patriotism by preserving American history through education. The local Independence Pioneers, DAR Chapter Regent is Patricia Stewart. Claudia McCarthy, Linda Conley, and Susan Bowman are the chairpersons of the Wreaths Across America Committee for the Independence Pioneers chapter of the DAR. The Independence chapter has participated in Wreaths Across America since 2019. In 2019 and 2020, this chapter purchased a few wreaths for the veterans cemetery in Higginsville. In 2021, the Independence Pioneers, DAR decided to support the Historic Woodlawn Cemetery.