Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors Operation Honor Guard Day of Giving

Description

Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors to once again Host Operation Honor Guard Day of Giving Donation Site Local veterans to gather donations at Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors North Chapel parking lot and various intersections throughout Decatur on Thursday, May 13th Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors will host an Operation Honor Guard Day of Giving collection point on Thursday, May 13th, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in their parking lot at 4020 N. Water St. in Decatur, plus other nearby intersections. The public is invited to make monetary donations to the veteran Honor Guard volunteers who will be gathered at the collection point(s) throughout the day. Donations from the Decatur Operation Honor Guard Day of Giving collection sites will be given to local Honor Guards to help offset their accruing annual expenses. In past years, Operation Honor Guard has helped 40 Honor Guard details in central Illinois, and Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors (and their generous givers) have raised over $12,000 for local veterans. On average, there are seven to eight Honor Guard members at each military funeral and it takes more than $800 to completely outfit each Honor Guard member. New or updated uniforms constitute only part of an Honor Guard's annual costs, and Operation Honor Guard proudly provides charitable assistance in the conducting of military funerals for veterans and service members. Funeral home owner Alex Calvert, when asked about Operation Honor Guard, had this to say about his inclusion in this momentous event, “The respect for our veterans overall and working with the Honor Guard through all kinds of weather throughout the year has motivated us to give back as we do in so many ways in the community. This event defines our ‘Dawson & Wikoff difference' and simply reiterates our stance on the importance of partnering with and caring for our families and our communities.” “We are excited to have Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors as a collection site host,” said Rich Darby, founder of Operation Honor Guard. “Not only have they stepped up to the plate to be a host, but they are going above and beyond to ensure success in Decatur. This shows true commitment to our veterans.” The parking lot at Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors North Chapel at 4020 N. Water St. in Decatur will be blocked off all day for the donation drive. Honor Guard members and Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors staff will be on-site with collection buckets to collect drive-up donations. About Dawson & Wikoff In 1904, the Wikoff family opened their first funeral home in downtown Decatur, Illinois. When founder Charles Wikoff retired in 1920, his son Forest took over the business with a gentleman named Roy Dawson. The funeral home name was changed at that time to Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Home. Forest G. Wikoff, Jr., a third generation of the family, took over operations of the funeral home, and from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, Dawson & Wikoff expanded their service to surrounding communities. A second Decatur chapel was built in 1985, and twenty years later, new funeral homes were constructed in Blue Mound and Macon, with renovations being made to the West Wood Street and Mt. Zion locations. Today, two strong funeral families have combined to renew the strength that Forest Wikoff originally gave to Macon County. Working together to ensure the finest in service and fairest in price, partners Alex Calvert and Greg May have combined their many years of funeral home family ownership and strong family values to lead Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors through the next generation. Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors is proud to be a Calvert Cares chapel and a partner to Decatur and its surrounding communities. About Operation Honor Guard Operation Honor Guard’s mission is to outfit every Honor Guard member throughout the United States. Operation Honor Guard is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides grants to veteran’s service organizations to purchase uniforms, caps, shoes, flags and other items necessary to respectfully perform funeral services for military and service personnel. # # # If you would like more information about this event, or to schedule an interview with Dawson & Wikoff Funeral Directors Public Relations Director Chad Sparks, please call (309) 827-7577 or email him at communityevents@dawson-wikoff.com.