By Memorial Day, Inc. is dedicated to providing reverent perpetual care for all veteran graves not located in national cemeteries. Our mission is to honor the sacrifices of every veteran by ensuring their graves receive the same reverence and maintenance as those in national cemeteries. We will accomplish our mission through paid volunteers, community involvement, fundraising, and advocacy.
In the sections below, you will learn about the perpetual care benefits offered by the VA for veterans buried in national cemeteries and how these benefits prove that perpetual care for all veteran graves is possible.
As per the Veteran Administration’s website, all eligible veterans may receive the following benefit:
” Veterans, service members, spouses, and dependents may be eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery, which includes perpetual care funded by the federal government. As per the VA’s website, the criteria for these benefits are straightforward:
If every eligible veteran took advantage of this benefit, the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) would receive additional federal funding to provide perpetual care for all eligible graves. However, those already buried outside national cemeteries don’t have the liberty of this benefit. Additionally, according to the overwhelming majority of veterans who don’t take advantage of this benefit, it can be concluded that eligible veterans and their families either don’t know about this benefit or choose to be buried in their hometown cemeteries to enable grave visitation. The federal government, the VA, and the NCA know it is not reasonable to expect loved ones to drive several hours round trip to the nearest national cemetery.
So what the VA is essentially saying is that IF there was the demand, the federal government WOULD provide the necessary funding for perpetual care. But how can the demand ever be there if:
A ) They don’t make an effort to make this benefit widely known.
B ) Veterans don’t want to be buried in national cemeteries.
C ) They don’t adjust their policies to meet the demands of the majority?
This raises a few critical questions:
At By Memorial Day, we know the current burial benefits provided by the VA and NCA only meet the needs of a small percentage of veterans who live in close proximity to a national cemetery. We assert that these burial benefits should be extended to veterans and their families who opt for burial in their hometowns. There isn’t a single veteran or family member who wouldn’t welcome reverent perpetual care for their loved one’s grave in a location of their choosing, but perhaps this is what the VA and NCA are hesitant to address.
By Memorial Day is committed to bridging this gap. If government funding is not forthcoming, we will lobby, advocate, and raise funds from private donors and corporate sponsors to make it happen. Currently, the NCA cares for less than 16% of veteran graves. If By Memorial Day can demonstrate that we can sustainably and effectively provide perpetual care for the majority of veteran graves outside national cemeteries, the federal government will be compelled to recognize and support our efforts.
Once successful, we will have proven that perpetual care for all veteran graves is both possible and sustainable. By showcasing our capability, we will present this evidence to the federal government persistently until we are acknowledged. Our ultimate goal is to be recognized as the organization capable of providing reverent perpetual care for ALL veteran graves, ensuring that every military hero receives the honor and maintenance they deserve.
Our mission is clear: to provide reverent perpetual care for veteran graves outside of national cemeteries. Below, you’ll find the different phases we intend to implement until we are federally funded and undeniably recognized as the only organization capable of achieving this goal:
Mission and Focus:
By Memorial Day, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing perpetual care for all veteran graves not located in national cemeteries. We will prioritize the fulfillment of reverent perpetual care for those who gave their lives in service to our country (KIA, died of disease, or accidental deaths).
Initial Fundraising:
Freedom is not free, and neither is a nation’s sacred duty to provide reverent perpetual care at the graves of our veterans of the past. We will aggressively focus on raising sufficient funds to enable service fulfillment. The donation model will be based on a per veteran grave basis, with an estimated cost of $129 per grave per year, or $11 per month. Suggested contributions are $129 per grave per year, or $11 per grave per month.
Comparison with NCA:
By Memorial Day intends to provide care for veteran graves at a lower cost per grave as compared to the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). The NCA maintains 4,100,000 veteran graves with an annual budget of $553,000,000. This establishes a baseline cost to provide reverent perpetual care for a veteran grave at $135 per year. By Memorial Day aims to provide the same services for $129 per grave per year, immediately less than the NCA. The cost per veteran grave is projected to decrease significantly on a per veteran grave basis to near variable costs per grave once breakeven has been achieved.
Services Provided:
By Memorial Day will provide service fulfillment via paid volunteers who will visit their assigned veteran graves twice per year including prior to Memorial Day and prior to Veterans Day. Services performed during each visit will include headstone cleaning as needed, flag holder replaced as needed, grave flag replacement, landscape trimming, grass and weed trimming, and documentation of the gravesite. By Memorial Day will carefully select, train, and certify paid volunteers. Remote reporting will be used to confirm service fulfillment which will trigger payments to each paid volunteer on a per grave per visit basis.
Service Fulfillment:
By Memorial Day will generously compensate local paid volunteers to provide reverent perpetual care service fulfillment on a per veteran grave, per visit basis, twice each year. Paid volunteers will visit each of their assigned veteran graves in the spring prior to Memorial Day and in the fall prior to Veterans Day.
Example: A paid volunteer tending to 10 graves per visit earns $200 ($20 per grave) with an estimated hourly rate of $50 per hour (assuming 4 hours on site). Paid volunteers will incur higher travel expenses and spend more time traveling to veteran gravesites in small isolated cemeteries as compared to larger cemeteries more densely populated with veteran graves. By Memorial Day will make sure paid volunteers are compensated at a profitable level regardless of distance and time, because every veteran deserves a respectfully maintained gravesite regardless of the location of their grave.
Volunteer Engagement:
By Memorial Day will recruit patriotic paid volunteers who would willingly provide veteran grave care services for free. These incredible Americans who will tend the graves of our veterans of the past will be the patriotic equivalent of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We will compensate them generously, because a nation’s sacred financial burden should not be shouldered by those who are doing the reverent work.
Initial Goals:
Establish reverent perpetual care for 25,000 gravesites containing the sacred remains of Americans who gave their lives in service to our country. These are members of the Armed Forces who were Killed In Action. These are young men who were murdered while being held Prisoners of War. These are Pilots and Air Crew who died in plane crashes during training missions. These are the able-bodied Americans who succumbed to disease while in uniform. To reach this initial goal we will raise $3,225,000! How many graves of men Killed In Action will you or your company sponsor at $129 each?
Management and Operations:
By Memorial Day will utilize VeteranGraves.com as an outsourced web-based vendor to manage, measure, and track the fulfillment of services at veteran gravesites.
Future Plans:
Focus on donor outreach to solicit large corporate donors and individuals. Lobby the federal government, VA, NCA, and state governments for funding at $129 per grave per year to ensure the sustainability and expansion of the program.
You can provide a (1) time sponsor of $129 or start up a monthly sponsorship of $11/month.
