Wreaths Across America, NewsChannel 21 partner to bring Mobile Education Exhibit to Bend

Kicks off statewide tour on August 12 at Bend Factory Stores, national tour to honor veterans, supporters

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Wreaths Across America announced Wednesday that its Mobile Education Exhibit will be making a stop in Bend next month, partnering exclusively with NewsChannel 21 to kick off a 10-city statewide tour to honor those who served and welcome home Vietnam veterans.

“The goal of the Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit is to bring the community together and teach patriotism while remembering the service and sacrifice of our nation’s heroes,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. “However, over the last year, in light of the current health crisis, we feel this exhibit has taken on even more meaning by providing the opportunity for people to safely participate in something that is both educational and inspiring while supporting and giving back to the communities it visits.”

The MEE achieves this goal by bringing the local community, veterans, active-duty military and their families together through interactive exhibits, short films, and shared stories. 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.

The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibits free and open to the public from 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. and will take place on Friday, August 12, at the Bend Factory Stores, located at 61334 S Hwy. 97.

When the MEE pulls into the area, all veterans, active-duty military, their families, and the local community members are invited and encouraged to visit, take a tour and speak with WAA representatives and volunteers. They can also share more about the national nonprofit, and the work its volunteers do to support our heroes and their communities year-round.

The public tours for the MEE are free and open to the public with social distancing, sanitation and COVID-19 safety procedures in place to protect the health of all visitors in accordance with the CDCs recommendation for large gatherings stemming from concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the media, dignitaries, veterans and other interested groups are urged to come, ask questions, share stories and experience this one-of-a-kind exhibit.

To host the MEE in your community, whether it be for a parade, a school-related or veterans’ organization, or a public or private event, visit https://wreathsacrossamerica.org/mee to make a request.

Wreaths Across America is the non-profit organization best known for placing wreaths on veterans’ headstones at Arlington National Cemetery. However, in 2021, the organization placed more than 2.4 million sponsored veterans’ wreaths at over 3,100 participating locations nationwide. Throughout the calendar year you can tune in to Wreaths Across America Internet Radio, 24/7, to learn more about the mission and those who support it across the country, as well as the hundreds of local charitable efforts nationwide that are funded through wreath sponsorships.

You can sponsor a veteran’s wreath anytime for $15 at www.wreathacrossamerica.org. Each sponsorship goes toward a live, balsam wreath that will be placed on the headstone of an American hero as we endeavor to honor all veterans laid to rest at noon on Saturday, December 18, 2021, as part of National Wreaths across America Day.

Click here to find a local participating cemetery near you to support go to and type in your town and/or state.

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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 thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. 

For more information or to sponsor a wreath please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.