Wreaths Across America expands to 11 cemeteries in Greenwood area
October 28, 2022
The second annual Wreaths Across America campaign is returning to the Lakelands for the 2022 holiday season and is expanding efforts to place wreaths on approximately 2,000 veterans’ graves.
The Mount Ariel Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution partnered with the national nonprofit WAA in 2021 to recognize veterans and support the organization’s mission to “Remember, Honor, Teach.” More than 1,400 veterans’ graves in seven Lakelands cemeteries received wreaths in the first year in Greenwood.
“We are pleased to announce that Wreaths Across America in Greenwood will expand to include 11 cemeteries this year, with a goal of covering the graves of about 2,000 veterans with wreaths,” said Helen Nazzaro, chair of the Wreaths Across America Committee for Mount Ariel. “It is heartwarming to see the desire to have WAA expand in Greenwood in our second year.”
Participating cemeteries will include last year’s participants — Edgewood, Evening Star, Oakbrook, Mount Tabor Baptist, Bethel AME, Elmwood and Ninety Six cemeteries — as well as four new cemeteries.
Cemeteries added for 2022, will include Rock Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem and Siloam cemeteries, all in Greenwood, and Greenville Presbyterian Church in Donalds.
“This is a tremendous outreach program for our community, and we are hopeful that we can garner the support of individuals, families, businesses and industries and community organizations to make this another successful year in honoring the men and women whose sacrifices have made our nation great,” Nazzaro said.
The nationwide Wreaths Across America Day is Saturday, Dec. 17. In Greenwood, a ceremony at noon at Oakbrook Cemetery will honor veterans and will begin the official laying of the wreaths at the cemeteries.
Two types of sponsorships are available for the purchase of wreaths. The first is sponsoring a single wreath for a donation $15. A second option is buy two wreaths for $30 and receive a third wreath free. Each sponsorship goes toward the purchase of a fresh balsam wreath, adorned with a red bow, which will be placed on the headstone of an American hero.
For more information or to sponsor a single wreath, visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/SC0214P.
To choose the “Buy Two, Get One Free” sponsorship, visit https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/171300/Overview/?relatedId=142500&modSw=donate.
Follow https://www.facebook.com/Greenwood-Wreaths-Across-America-109599631430106 for ongoing updates from the Mount Ariel Chapter, DAR, about WAA in Greenwood.
To learn how you can sponsor an individual wreath for a loved one at a cemetery of your choice, call or text Nazzaro at 901-626-6911. Send email requests to [email protected] and [email protected].
WAA started as a simple gesture of thanks for veterans at Arlington National Cemetery and has grown into a national movement of dedicated volunteers and communities coming together to not only remember the nation’s fallen and honor their service, but to teach the next generation about the sacrifices made for Americans to live freely. WAA anticipates there will be more than 3,000 participating locations and more than two million volunteers participating in the 2022 program.
“The Daughters of the American Revolution are humbled to have the opportunity to bring Wreaths Across America to Greenwood County again this year,” said Cheryl Agnew-Bell, acting regent for Mount Ariel. “We look forward to honoring our local heroes and ensuring that the individuals whose service has protected the freedoms of our nation always are remembered.”
Supporters of the 2022 Wreaths Across America campaign in Greenwood to date include Ascend, Lonza, WCRS Radio, Oakbrook Cemetery, the Piedmont Agency on Aging and the City of Greenwood.
About Wreaths Across America
Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.
