From toy drives to donations, the holidays are full of examples of people helping people. Meijer is involved in many local events during the holidays – from Toys for Tots to Shop with a Hero to our annual Very Merry Meijer customer surprise & delight event. But, this holiday season, involvement extended beyond our stores, as demonstrated by another important event with the Meijer Transportation Team.
Dec. 15, 2018, was National Wreaths Across America Day. On that day, at 1,640 participating locations nationwide, grateful Americans in every state placed 1,800,000 veterans’ wreaths on the headstones of our nation’s heroes.
For the first time, four Meijer truck drivers, veterans themselves, voluntarily transported 2,619 live balsam wreaths to locations in Michigan and Ohio. Several Meijer team members across the organization also participated by placing the wreaths on veterans’ grave sites.
“Many of our drivers are veterans so when the opportunity presented itself, we feel that this action would show our respect for those that served,” said Dave Hoover, Director of Outbound Logistics for Meijer. “We were honored to play a small part to remember the fallen and teach our children that value of freedom.”
Each wreath is a gift of respect and appreciation, donated by a private citizen or organization and placed on the graves by volunteers as a small gesture of gratitude for the freedoms Americans enjoy. For centuries, fresh evergreens have been used as a symbol of honor and served as living tributes renewed annually. Wreaths Across America believes the tradition represents a living memorial that honors veterans, active duty military members, and their families. Volunteers are asked to say the name of the veteran out loud when placing a wreath to ensure their memory lives on.