A three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be in Wake Forest’s Joyner Park for four days in October. It will be open and free to all for every hour of those four days, attended by volunteers and security.
The Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation is the sponsor for The Wall That Heals, and the committee keeps discovering new costs and thinking of new ways to celebrate the visit of this emotion-laden memorial.
It will cost $8,000 to move the exhibit here – the Wall itself plus two tents and a large truck. After that, the items keep piling up. Town Commissioner Greg Harrington, a committee member, provided a partial list. These are listed below in no particular order.
*Food for the 100-plus volunteers who will be at the Wall 24 hours a day. Harrington said some of that may be contributed.
*Generators to light the site at night. Again, these may be contributed.
*Security for the site.
*The Town of Wake Forest is donating most of the cost of the brochures for the visit.
*The foundation is having baseball card-style cards for all the North Carolina men and women who were killed during the Vietnam War.
*Name tags and safety vests for volunteers. The committee is also considering T-shirts for volunteers.
*The movie Etchings in Stone will be shown all three nights. Harrington did not give a cost for this.
*Pencils for the name rubbings visitors will do.
*Golf carts to transport disabled or elderly visitors from the parking lot to the exhibit.
“We are looking at several different things that will cost money,” Harrington said, “but I can’t discuss them since we haven’t voted on them and then we are going to keep them close to the vest.”
Harrington said he thought the committee had raised “about $11,000 and probably need 3-4 thousand more.” And, as shown by the above, they are hoping for contributions of several items.
Individuals and businesses can help by becoming sponsors for The Wall That Heals. Sponsorship levels range from $100 to $7,500 and include an array of benefits. Each sponsorship level is designed to allow sponsors to reach a huge audience as thousands of visitors are expected to visit Wake Forest during the four-day exhibit.
Local businesses and individuals can donate via check or online via PayPal at www.wakeforestnc.gov/the-wall-that-heals.aspx. Checks should be made payable to Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation and include The Wall That Heals in the memo line. Checks should be mailed to the Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation, PO Box 168, Wake Forest, NC 27588.
The Wall That Heals honors the more than three million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed forces in the Vietnam War and bears the names of the more than 58,000 men and women who died.
The only town in North Carolina scheduled to host the exhibit in 2018, Wake Forest will be among the first to host a new, larger exhibit, which includes a three-quarter scale Wall replica that is 375 feet in length and stands 7.5 feet high at its tallest point.
For more information, visit www.wakeforestnc.gov/the-wall-that-heals.aspx or contact Crystal Carlson at 919-608-0158 or ccarlson@susaf.org.
3 Responses
I have seen quite a few articles about Town spending. This may seem like a petty issue, Wake Forest finally partially cleared and replanted the area by the railroad overpass. A stone knee wall and new plantings were done. But, I am gathering watering and feeding were not part of the plan. Some of the plantings are dying. Seems a shame that this work was done but not maintained. If the town is going to continue to buy parcels for future use, please maintain what is already there.
I agree Linda. It is quite kind of the foundation to be considerate of the volunteers, but I’d prefer they save the money. My husband and I will bring our own beverages as well.
My husband and I are volunteers. We do not need to be fed. Perhaps a note to volunteers that we should come with water would be all that is needed. Shifts are only 4 hours.