The Wall That Heals: Your help is needed!

 We are blessed to live in such a great community. In just three short weeks we have raised $20,150. We have received donations from businesses, individuals, organizations, clubs, churches and elected officials.

Even though we have met our original goal, we will still be accepting monetary donations in any amount. Because, truthfully, we do not know exactly what our total expenses will be. In-kind donations will also be welcomed. We will have to pay a total of $12,000 to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Fund to just bring The Wall That Heals to Bates County. We have already made the down payment of $6000. The Committee will also have to provide liability insurance. We will have expenses for utilities, t-shirts and food for volunteers, signs, banners and advertising just to name a few.

Any monetary donations that are not spent will be donated back to non-profits in our community that support Veterans.

Our next big hurdle will be gathering volunteers. We will need a total of 200 volunteers. Volunteers will be needed to set up and take down The Wall, give tours, greet visitors and work at the information tent as well as the mobile education center. We will need volunteer riders for the escort that will take place on April 28th. We will need parking attendants. The Committee is also looking for buglers who would be willing to play Taps each night at dusk. It would also be great if we had a photographer who would take pictures throughout the duration of the exhibit to document this historic event. The Wall will need to be staffed with volunteers 24 hours a day.

It will take 30 to 40 able bodied men and women to set-up The Wall. There are 146 panels with each one weighing between 80 pounds to 5 pounds. Every panel will be carried by hand and set in the aluminum frame. The mobile education center will need to be set up and there will also be an information booth to be set up. This will all take place starting at 8:00 a.m. on April 29th and will take between 6 to 8 hours to complete. Trent Nelson, Bates County Southern Commissioner, has offered to have a fish fry for the volunteers at lunch on set-up day. On April 29th at 6:00 p.m. there will be a mandatory training that volunteers will need to attend. We will also need the same amount of volunteers to dismantle the wall at 2:00 p.m. on May 3rd.

Our website should be live in the next few weeks. If you are interested in being a volunteer you will be able to go to the website and sign up for as many shifts as you would like. Shifts will be in 4 hour increments except for the set-up and take-down volunteers.

The Bates County The Wall That Heals Committee is very grateful for the donations and the support received so far. We are all very honored to bring the Wall That Heals to Bates County.

The Bates county The Wall That Heals Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584036959317