SAUGUS — A group of veterans are a little bit closer to heading to Washington, D.C thanks to WIN Waste Innovations.
The company donated $7,500 to Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Post 2346, which is fundraising for its third “Roll to D.C.” trip for local veterans. The donation from WIN is the first half of what will be a total donation of $15,000 from the organization throughout the year.
Dennis Gould, who is coordinating the trip, said the donation will allow for 15 veterans to travel to D.C. without worrying about paying their way. With a goal of $70,000, according to Gould, the group still has some way to go, but WIN was able to kickstart the group’s efforts. Overall, the VFW has raised close to $28,000 for the trip.
Bob Faia, of WIN Waste Innovations in Saugus, said that they are honored to be able to support the trip.
“As we recently celebrated Independence Day, we are especially cognizant of the fact that the freedoms we enjoy every day have been guaranteed by the sacrifice of our veterans over the years,” said Faia. “We are sincerely grateful and happy to play a role in our local veterans experiencing this trip to the nation’s capital.”
The fundraising is aimed at ensuring that the “trip of a lifetime” will cost no money for the veterans. The itinerary includes visits to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where they will have an opportunity to lay a wreath, as well as reflect and have a brief ceremony. The group will also be staying at Andrews Air Force Base.
“We also go to every military monument and memorial there is in the town,” said Gould.
Gould said that this trip is important for veterans as many of them have yet to see these memorials and it can give veterans a sense of closure.
“Some of them have never seen it (the monuments and memorials),” he said. “It’s a very solemn experience. It’s an emotional experience for a lot of the Vietnam vets because they see the names of their comrades and buddies up on the wall. It’s (a) pretty emotional trip… Some of the guys have told me in the past that it puts some closure to their service and their loss of their buddies and the loss of their comrades. It puts some closure to the whole thing to go ahead and be able to do that ceremony.”
