Statewide effort will support local programs while honoring and remembering our nation’s veterans laid to rest at Arlington
AUGUSTA and COLUMBIA FALLS, ME — April 26 2023 — Maine Motor Transport Association is proud to announce its participation in a statewide Virtual Convoy in partnership with national nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA).
The Virtual Convoy kicks off this month across the country. The goal is simple, help raise awareness for WAA’s year-round mission to Remember the fallen, Honor those that serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom, while helping raise funds to support local programs important to the people of Maine. Through WAA’s Group Sponsorship Program, MMTA is registered as a $5 pay back Sponsorship Group supporting Arlington National Cemetery – where more than 400,000 servicemembers, representing every U.S. conflict and the state of Maine, are laid to rest.
Through this effort, MMTA will be working to fill (virtually) one trailer load of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to send to Arlington National Cemetery this December. This is approximately 5,000 wreaths which will be laid on the final resting place of servicemembers from our state. With each $17 veteran’s wreath sponsored an American hero receives a wreath, and the year-round mission of WAA is supported, AND the Association will receive $5 back! Every penny of these funds will go right back into sponsoring even more wreaths PLUS the MMTA will match the sponsorship of up to 100 wreaths to help Maine meet it’s trailer load goal.
“The Maine trucking industry rises to face challenges every single day and this Virtual Convoy will be no different,” said MMTA President and CEO Brian Parke. “Supporting veteran causes like Wreaths Across America is part of trucking’s culture. Our members know that the only reason freedom is possible is because of the sacrifices of those who served.”
“Each year, WAA partners with more than 300 transportation companies who help us “move the mission.” These companies donate equipment, fuel, staffing, and time to deliver loads of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their final resting places on the headstones of our nation’s servicemembers laid to rest at more than 3,700 participating cemeteries nationwide,” said Courtney George, Manager of Transportation and Industry Relations, WAA. “The Virtual Convoy which will help expand this reach within the industry through the partnership and support of State Trucking Associations across the country.”
To support MMTA and help us reach our goal, please consider sponsoring a wreath at https://wreathsacrossamerica.org/mainemotortransport.
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About MMTA
The Maine Motor Transport Association is one of the state’s largest trade associations with more than 1,750 member companies whose employees make up a large portion of the more than 34,000 people who make their living in the trucking industry in Maine. MMTA actively seeks ways to positively influence highway safety and provide leadership on other issues that impact Maine’s future.
About Wreaths Across America
Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun in 1992. The organization’s mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.
For more information or to sponsor a wreath please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.
Press contacts:
Brian Parke
Maine Motor Transport Association
bparke@mmta.com
(207)623-4128
Sean Sullivan
Wreaths Across America
ssullivan@wreathsacrossamerica.org
(207) 230-4599