Here at Wreaths Across America headquarters, preparations are being made for our annual summer weekend event, Stem to Stone. The WHY for this gathering is to highlight that Wreaths Across America is not just an event but an experience, and in fact for some has become a way of life. This concept was shared more eloquently in a poem written by longtime volunteer Location Coordinator Jill Harris from Crownsville Veterans’ Cemetery in Maryland. Read it by clicking on the button below.

Thank you, Jill, and all the volunteers that make the mission to Remember, Honor, Teach a reality in your own communities. You, the volunteers and supporters, are Stem to Stone and in working together we not only share history and instill accountability for freedom in our children, we also set the example of the power of one.

With Gratitude,

Karen Worcester, Executive Director

Back To School Curriculum

Whether you are a parent, a grandparent, or a teacher, we encourage you to share the WAA Teach materials with the young people in your life. This month, we have new Back To School resources for you!

Read more from the Curriculum Developer for Wreaths Across America by clicking on the button below.

Wreaths Across America Radio: Your Radio Station

You can be part of the Stem to Stone weekend from anywhere with Wreaths Across America Radio, listen starting Thursday, August 4^th through Saturday, August 6^th, for updates, special guests, and a lot of great music. Wreaths Across America Radio is available 24/7 on the iHeart Radio app, the Audacy app, the TuneIn App or click on the button below to listen.

Last Chance: Register For the Stem to Stone Remembrance Race
Saturday, August 6th

Join us in Columbia Falls, Maine, where the mission of Wreaths Across America will be on display through the 5K Run/Walk/Ruck and 10K Run, or from your own course at home.

Each individual race registration sponsors a fresh balsam veteran’s wreath that will be placed on the headstone of an American hero on National Wreaths Across America Day.

Featured Merchandise: Vibe Speaker Tumbler

The Wreaths Across America Vibe Speaker Tumbler is vacuum insulated and it keeps your beverage cold for 24 hours or hot for 8 hours!

Listen to Wreaths Across America Radio on the tumbler’s detachable speaker with 6 hours of playtime.

Make sure to follow Wreaths Across America official channels on social media for the most up-to-the-minute news on the mission throughout the year:

Dear Michael Barbour,

It’s hard to believe that the longest day of this year is already behind us. As the days begin to shorten, we are reminded of that old saying that time marches on.

It’s also the time of year for graduations, weddings and young people beginning the next phase of their lives. As parents and grandparents, we watch them take these big steps and hope that we have instilled in them qualities that will help them along the way… responsibility, kindness, empathy, and sense of community, to name a few.

These thoughts crossed my mind as I sat down to write about our “Giving in July” program. During this month we highlight like-minded organizations who raise funds for their cause using our $5 back sponsorship program. To date, more than $17 million has been given back to help fund local community causes through this WAA initiative. In addition, and to the point of preparing our “kids” for the real world, it is also an opportunity to teach, through a real-life example, the benefit of working together for a greater good.

It would be disingenuous to have the mission to remember, honor, teach and not work with those who are working towards the same goals. These partnerships enable us to better serve the veteran community, and others.

Across the country dedicated WAA volunteers adhering to the same concept bring diverse groups of people together to honor those who have served and involve their communities in the experience. Their efforts are not only making a difference today, but an impression that will influence the next generation. The ‘kids’ are watching, and finding a way to serve in your community helps them learn how they too can make a difference.

“ Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” …. Henry Ford

Have a Happy July. Embrace your freedom and family and stay America Strong and America Proud.

With gratitude,

Karen Worcester

Executive Director

“These Are the Times That Try Men’s Souls” 

With schools out for summer across the country, parents and caregivers of school-aged children may be thinking, or even saying those words made famous by Thomas Paine in 1776! But never fear, Wreaths Across America Teach Curriculum is here to save the day!

Learn more about our July 4^th activities by clicking on the button.

Visit the Mobile Education Exhibit

The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit will make stops in Minnesota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Washington in July.

The exhibit serves as a mobile museum, educating visitors about the service and sacrifice of our nation’s heroes as well as serving as an official ‘welcome home’ station for our nation’s Vietnam Veterans.

Featured Merchandise

July is the perfect time of year to start thinking about the holiday season, and this year’s themed ornament makes the perfect gift!

Or, show your support of the mission at all this summer’s parties with our new logo’d Tumbler!

Make sure to follow Wreaths Across America official channels on social media for the most up-to-the-minute news on the mission throughout the year:

Dear Michael Barbour,

National Medal of Honor Day is Friday, March 25, 2022.

In 2018, my husband Morrill Worcester and I were honored, and incredibly humbled, to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Patriot Award.

The work that we have been blessed to do through nonprofit Wreaths Across America has afforded us opportunities to meet so many amazing Gold and Blue Star families, veterans, and active-duty military all who have played a part in strengthening our resolve to share their stories of service and sacrifice.

You can’t imagine how thrilled we were to have the chance to meet so many veterans, who had “distinguished themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”

It is not an exaggeration to say that meeting and getting to know some of these heroes has changed our lives and helped guide the Wreaths Across America mission to Remember, Honor and Teach. As we and a grateful nation celebrate National Medal of Honor Day, I’d like to share a few memories that I will carry in my heart forever.

To read more about the men behind the medals, click here.

Remember – Honor – Teach

With gratitude,

Karen Worcester

Executive Director

Join Us Live!

Wreaths Across America will host a National Medal of Honor Day Ceremony at 12pm ET/ 9 am PT on Friday, March 25, to Honor all those who have “distinguished themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”

Wreaths Across America RoundTable – Veteran Caregivers

Tune in TONIGHT,  Thursday, March 24 at 7pm ET

Whether we know it or not, all of us will serve as a caregiver for a loved one at some point in our lives. For some it is obvious, an elderly parent, an ailing spouse, unable to fully take care of themselves because of their condition. For others it’s less obvious, or perhaps they don’t realize it – the child being extra helpful, the spouse managing medical appointments. However we define it, caregivers are a critical component of our healthcare system and to support the health of loved ones – it is a difficult and often thankless job. This is especially true of our Military and Veteran populations.

More than half of our Veteran population is over the age of 65. They are at greater risk of suffering from malnutrition, substance abuse disorders, and post traumatic stress. Veterans are more likely to be dealing with two or more chronic conditions adding further complications to their care. Most tragic, while we typically associate suicide with young people – older Veterans account for almost 60 percent of Veteran suicides.

At Wreaths Across America we see this every day – these are not just statistics – these are our volunteers, our partners, our family. This month, Karen and Joe will be hosting a roundtable discussion talking about caregivers, highlighting the challenges, as well as the resources available to those caring for a loved one. We’re excited to partner with The American Red Cross, and Heroes Bridge to have an open and honest conversation about providing care to a loved one, and the resources available to support those providing that care. While our conversation is going to be primarily focused on caregivers to Veterans, we are certain that the conversation will be helpful to anyone who finds themselves at a point in their life where they are providing care to a loved one. As with all of our roundtable discussions on Wreaths Across America radio, our conversation is meant to focus on healing through shared stories of resilience, purpose, and success.

This discussion, hosted by Executive Director Karen Worcester and Director of Military & Veteran Outreach Joe Reagan will focus on Military Caregivers. Guests will include Melissa Comeau, Director of the American Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network andMolly Brooks, Registered Nurse as well as the CEO and Founder of Hero’s Bridge.

A 250th Birthday Present to America 

Imagine a place that will build unity and pride for our country.  A place that is part national monument, part historical adventure, part immersive tech-driven museum, part architectural wonder. A place that will make history.

Born from a desire to advance unity and patriotism in America, members of the founding family of Wreaths Across America – Morrill, Mike, and Rob Worcester – are announcing their next large-scale project, the Flagpole of Freedom Park that will be located in the expansive tip lands of their balsam fir farm; the largest balsam farm in the U.S. where the wreaths are made.

After a decade of planning, this visionary Park will feature Remembrance Walls with the names of all 24 million American veterans since the Revolutionary – the only place in the nation to honor all of them in one place. At its center, standing taller than the Empire State Building, will be the world’s largest Flagpole and American Flag ever flown, symbolizing the commitment and sacrifice made to protect the freedoms of today.

Join Morrill, Mike and Rob Worcester on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 7 p.m. as they unveil this historic project that will humanize key events that have shaped our country’s history.  Phase one of the Park will open on July 4, 2026 – America’s 250th birthday.

ICYMI: 60th Anniversary of the Disappearance of Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 

On March 16, 2022, WAA commemorated the 60th anniversary of the disappearance of Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 at the monument dedicated to the 93 soldiers and 11 flight crew members lost that day, and all their families who were left behind.

The inscription on the Monument reads:

“Missing in action; Presumed dead. Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 went missing on March 16, 1962, with 93 U.S. Army soldiers on board. These men and their flight crew perished in what would become one of the biggest aviation mysteries out of the Vietnam War era.

THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AND WHO REMAIN MISSING ARE INSCRIBED HERE SO THAT THEY WILL BE SAID ALOUD AND THEIR MEMORY WILL LIVE ON.”

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Featured Merchandise

Don’t miss the chance to add Wreaths Across America’s 2022 theme, Find A Way To Serve, to your ornament collection!