COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — Wreaths Across America is nearly a half million dollars short of its $3.5 million fundraising goal to place a wreath on all 230,000 headstones at Arlington National Cemetery.
Organization spokesman Tobin Slavin said he could not say exactly where fundraising efforts stood as of Monday afternoon because donations were continually coming in. However, at the end of last week, projections indicated the nonprofit would be short by $450,000, or the cost of 30,000 wreaths.
The fundraising campaign officially was set to finish at the end of the day Monday, Nov. 30. However, the organization will accept donations until the trucks depart for Arlington on Dec. 6.
Wreaths made by Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington are being loaded into trucks and slated to arrive in time to be placed on headstones at the famous national cemetery on Dec. 12. Trucks and volunteers also will take part in events honoring veterans while en route from Maine to Virginia.
Since 1992, when Morrill Worcester of Worcester Wreath Co. founded the nonprofit Wreaths Across America, last year was the first year the organization raised enough money to place a wreath on all 230,000 headstones in Arlington National Cemetery.
“There was a big push last year because it was the 150th anniversary of Arlington becoming a national cemetery,” said Slaven.
Donations have not been as strong this year, he said.
Slaven also said many people don’t donate because they don’t realize Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit organization.
“Many folks just assume [Wreaths Across America] is a government program,” Slaven said.
He nevertheless was optimistic that enough last-minute donations would come in, thanks in part to media coverage of the fundraising shortfall.
If the organization doesn’t get enough money to cover all the headstones at Arlington, wreaths will be placed in select sections this year, with the others targeted next year.
Since 2007, when Wreaths Across America expanded its program, thousands more wreaths also have been shipped to other groups around the country to place wreaths on individual graves. Slaven said Arlington now is one of almost 1,100 locations that get sponsored wreaths.
Fundraising amounts are up in some locations and down in others, he said.
“It really varies across the country,” Slaven said.
But the project at Arlington is by far the nonprofit’s largest, requiring scores of volunteers to lay wreaths throughout the cemetery.
To donate or volunteer, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org.