Coast Guard, car wash raise money for gravestone wreaths

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – There are 43,000 gravestones at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

And most people think they are all decorated with a wreath on special holidays, but that’s not true.

However, volunteers are trying to change that

The Chattanooga Detachment of the United States Coast Guard joined with a car wash company to raise money to buy wreaths for the other 33,000 gravestones – that remind us of the contributions made by these military men and women.

That company is Surf’s Up Car Wash.

Owner Jon Woodward says, “I see it on the news and I said, hey we can help, there’s a lot of things we can do to uh, help him out with it so why not? But we want to honor our fallen veterans so what better way to do it.”

The program is part of “Wreaths Across Chattanooga” and it brought out some well-known volunteers who were part of the crews that washed cars.

Retired US Navy Captain Mickey McCamish was there. He says, “To accomplish our goal of a wreath on forty three thousand gravestones, we had to start now and Jon, and Surf’s Up, this is our first major fund-raising event, what a great location to do it in, the weather is perfect.”

Most of the 10,000 wreaths that are currently used at the national cemetery were donated at the national level, and funds collected during this campaign will add to them.

Donations from individuals are added to the money donated by Surf’s Up Carwash.

The volunteers feel strongly about this fundraising effort this year.

Woodward added, “It’s been really, really busy, and compared to our other location in Cleveland, it normally is about the same, and we’re beating them soundly here so, that’s a good testament to uh, to the draw that we’ve got here for the cause, so it’s awesome!”

Surf’s Up owner Jon Woodward presented Capt. McCamish a check for $1,000 dollars from the car wash today.

The Wreaths across Chattanooga campaign needs volunteers to help them place the wreaths.