The Wreaths Across America story began over 15 years ago when Worcester Wreath Company (a for-profit commercial business from Harrington, Maine) began a tradition of placing wreaths on the headstones of our Nation's fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery.
Over the years, Worcester Wreath has donated over 75,000 wreaths which were placed by volunteers in a wreath laying ceremony each December.
The Houston Connection & how WAA-Houston came to be
In 2007 one of our team members wanted to attend the ceremony at the Houston National Cemetery with his son. This was the beginning of a goal for not only one boy and his dad, but also several volunteers. On this day father and son found out the Houston National Cemetery does not receive the live wreaths for all burial sites. The National Cemetery does receive seven wreaths (each representing one of the branches of service and the MIA/POW’s) as all other National Cemeteries do. The ceremony is held to place seven wreaths in the front of the National Cemetery. But what about each of the fallen soldier’s grave sites? There the challenge began for Houston to show the Nation how we honor our fallen soldiers, raise the funds, recruit volunteers and place a wreath on all 55,000+ grave sites at the Houston National Cemetery. Although we did not reach our goal for all the sites at HNC in 2009, we were able to place over 22,000 wreaths! A huge step for Houston as we honored our fallen heroes. Look for our updates and information regarding the 2010 Wreaths Across America-Houston project.
WAA-Houston is a 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit Organization.