Veterans Day 2018: Service Doesn't Stop

This Veterans Day we’re committed to continuing our service to our nation, and calling on our fellow veterans to join us to do the same. We’re partnering with the Travis Manion Foundation and The Mission Continues to bring veterans together across the country to help make their communities better. From cleaning up parks, to supporting the homeless, to laying flags at the graves of local veterans, we’re coming together with people from different backgrounds and political affiliations for the common good.

Our country may seem divided, but as we saw in the military, we’re at our best when we get busy building up, not tearing down. Our message to veterans is this: We joined the military for many reasons, but for most of us, it was out of a desire to serve our nation. Your country still needs you—and you still have much to contribute.

We encourage you to find a project in your community—here are a few places where you can get involved. Follow links for additional information.

Atlanta, GA

Join us at historic East View Cemetery and help us honor the veterans interred there. From 10am to 3pm, we will be clearing debris, planting flags at the gravestones of veterans, and talking about what patriotism means in America today.

Austin, TX

Join us at Mary Lee Foundation, a nonprofit providing low affordable housing for those with special needs, including veterans that sustained TBI injuries during their service. Through minor repairs, beautification, and landscaping, we will help give the homeless a little added dignity. Projects will range from heavy duty to kid friendly.

Boston, MA

Team up with us for a day of service at two family homeless shelters in Cambridge. Together we will clean and landscape the backyards to make them safe and accessible to children and families, as well as renovate the children's indoor playrooms with fresh coats of paint and new flooring. This is a family-friendly event, and we’ll have lunch, water, and music onsite.

Charlotte, NC

Join up with veterans, refugees, and members of the community to lay flags on the graves of fallen service members. We’ll come together to show a unity of purpose in honor of those that gave all.

Chicago, IL

Join us for a visit with the veteran residents of Hope Manor, one of the first large scale, supportive housing developments specifically designed for veterans in Chicago. We'll be cooking up food, setting up activities, and more.

Dallas, TX

Come together with veterans, refugees, and members of the community to clean up one of our most valuable resources: the Holland Trail in Great Trinity Forest. This is the nation's largest urban hardwood bottomland forest but its trails are in need of some TLC.

Denver, CO

Team up with veterans, non-profit organizations, and the International Rescue Committee to make our community better and more welcoming to refugees. Stay tuned for more details.

Houston, TX

Join us to help Eight Million Stories, an organization providing comprehensive support to previously incarcerated youth. We’ll paint and landscape to beautify EMS's campus and create bright spots so that youth have a positive environment where they can thrive.

Jacksonville, FL

Team up with veterans, non-profit organizations, and the International Rescue Committee to make our community better and more welcoming to refugees. Stay tuned for more details.

Los Angeles, CA

Gather with veterans and community partners to write letters of support to children separated from their parents at the U.S. southern border. The average detention period for migrant children is 59 days and children may be potentially held away from their family and sponsors through the upcoming holidays. We will be sending letters of encouragement and support to let them know they are cared for and they are not forgotten.

New York/New Jersey

We're teaming up with Story Pirates for a fun-filled evening of "Story Love," where volunteers write personalized notes to young authohrs about their pre-written stories. Story Love shows students that Story Pirates have read their individual stories and genuinely care what they have to say, thereby increasing confidence to continue writing.

Philadelphia, PA

Come together with more than three hundred members of the Philadelphia community and area high school students as we partner with 12 civic/community organizations in the Point Breeze neighborhood. Dozens of volunteer projects will exemplify good character and a commitment to service through cleaning up parks, alleyways, and vacant lots. The project is dedicated to fallen heroes Major John Pryor, U.S. Army, killed in action in Iraq in 2008; Corporal Gennaro Pellegrini, U.S. Army/Philadelphia Police Department, killed in action in Iraq in 2005; Lieutenant Demetrius Frison, U.S. Army, killed in action in Afghanistan in 2011.

Pittsburgh, PA

Join with us as we help the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh clean up the gardens at Transverse Park. We’ll take down the vegetation and clear the plots for winter. If time/budget/weather allows we’ll hopefully build a few more garden boxes on the plots as well.

Raleigh, NC

Join as we dedicate a day of service to Master Gunnery Sergeant Tim Musgrove of New Bern, NC, by hanging sheetrock, removing siding, and doing some basic clean-up at his home recently damaged by Hurricane Michael. We honor the legacy of First Lieutenant Travis Manion, USMC, who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country in 2007.

Richmond, VA

Come gather with veterans, refugees, and community members to lay flags on the graves of the fallen in a show of unity and purpose this Veterans Day.

Washington, DC

Join with us and the Mount Vernon High School Athletic Booster Club for a charity soccer tournament to raise funds for the community garden. The Gardening Club is asking participants to tour the garden and join in a clean-up.