Local mothers host Wreaths Across America fundraiser
Alabama Gold Star Moms Anne Adkins, Adrienne Bourland, Linda Brooks, Loris Bryson, Ellen Comfort, Violet Kaylor, Brenda Murkerson, Jean Prewitt, Terry Savage, Dixie Smith, Donna Smith and Marynell Winslow attend a Wreaths Across America monument dedication ceremony. Their efforts help honor the memories of their sons, one of whom lost his life in Vietnam and others in the War on Terror. Photo courtesy of Marynell Winslow.Wreaths Across America started in the Northeast in the 1980s and has now spread across the nation. The goal of this non–profit is to place a wreath on every veteran’s grave site in the United States.
This year, Jefferson Memorial Gardens South cemetery on Highway 150 is an official Wreaths Across America site. More than 500 veterans are buried there.
The Alabama Department of the American Gold Star Mothers, a group of mothers who have lost children in military action, is the local sponsoring organization for the campaign.
Monies raised during this year’s drive ($5 for every $15 wreath sponsored) will help fund a monument to be placed within the veterans cemetery under construction in South Alabama. In April, the Alabama chapter of American Gold Star Mothers dedicated the state’s first Wreaths Across America monument, located at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo. This monument was made possible through two years of wreath fundraising efforts within the Hoover community.
Each wreath costs $15 to sponsor.
If you wish to sponsor a wreath to be placed on a
Hoover area veteran’s grave site, contact Marynell Winslow
at marynellwinslow@bellsouth.net.
