The month of December brings thoughts of snow, family togetherness and, for many, Christmas. Many families celebrate Christmas with relatives they might not be able to see every day. However, the sad truth is, nobody lives forever. Despite this, you can still celebrate the holidays with lost relatives or friends, or, if you are in Yorktown’s Key Club, with fallen United States Military veterans.
An offshoot of Kiwanis, The Key Club is a national high school group with chapters across the United States. Yorktown’s chapter is led by seniors Erin Sweeney and Paige Little. The club’s main focus is service, so they participate in multiple charity events and service projects throughout the school year, such as Wreaths Across America.
“Wreaths Across America is an organization that takes Christmas wreaths and distributes them . . . to be laid on different graves across the country,” Sweeney said.
Although many people will go the extra mile to mourn at the graves of their relatives, Arlington Cemetery is just too far away for some people to get to. Luckily, that doesn’t mean that veterans won’t be properly honored after they die. Wreaths Across America fundraises to buy wreaths for individuals and volunteer groups to place all over Arlington National Cemetery.
“We do Wreaths [Across] America because it’s a consistently fun event that’s close to us. Arlington Cemetery is right by us, so we think it’s a very good way for kids to be involved with service, which is the point of our club,” Sweeney said.
Anyone can participate in this event, not just Key Club members.
“It’s Saturday, [December 17] … Key Club and a few other organizations at Yorktown are taking a group of students to go down and help lay wreaths in Arlington Cemetery, so if anyone is interested in helping … you can contact any of us [Key Club members]. It’s very easy, we’re going to take the Metro down, we’re going to go lay wreaths, it can actually be kind of a fun event. It’s very special,” Little said.
Wreaths Across America has been around since 1992, but mainstream media first caught wind of it in 2005, when an image of snow-covered graves embellished with wreaths taken in Arlington National Cemetery went viral. Eleven years later and the rates of participation are through the ceiling – and still rising.
“Last year, it was huge. We each only got to lay down two or three wreaths. I could definitely see it growing because we live in a very supportive community where people understand the importance of doing events like this,” Little said.
While wreaths of holly are an age-old tradition of Christmas, there are still veterans buried in Arlington National Cemetery who did not practice the Christian faith. Despite this, the graves of veterans of other religious backgrounds are still garnished with objects close to their religious beliefs.
“All the wreaths are the same, [but] they normally tell you, ‘Don’t put wreaths on graves with Jewish identifications, or Islam,’ but then you go around and see some special wreaths that their families have put down, and they say ‘Don’t remove these.’ You’ll see different ones for different religions,” Sweeney said.
Although the amount of people laying wreaths in Arlington National Cemetery increases exponentially every year, there is no limit to how many people can contribute. So, if you ever find yourself bored on a December morning, bundle up, grab some wreaths, and honor the faithful defenders of the United States of America who are no longer with us.
