Wreaths Across America Partners with MISSION BBQ for American Heroes Cup Campaign
For third consecutive year MISSION BBQ will donate a portion of its proceeds from its American Heroes Cup campaign to honor American's veterans laid to rest
COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine and GLEN BURNIE, Md., Nov. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Wreaths Across America (WAA) and MISSION BBQ announce the start of the "American Heroes Cup" campaign to raise funds to sponsor veterans' wreath to be placed on National Wreaths Across America Day in December of 2020.
Though the end of 2019, for every American Heroes Cup purchased at any of the restaurant's 85 locations, $2 will be donated to WAA. This is the third consecutive year MISSION BBQ has supported WAA through its American Heroes Cup Campaign. In 2017, MISSION BBQ raised $282,376, sponsoring 18,800 veterans' wreaths for placement in 2018, and last year the campaign raised $368,628, enough to help place 24,500 veterans' wreath this coming December in local cemeteries across the country.
Bill Kraus and Steve Newton opened the first MISSION BBQ restaurant in a Baltimore suburb in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. In opening the restaurant, they sought to Serve, Honor and Thank American heroes for their sacrifices and service by donating a significant portion of the restaurant's profits to the community's military non-profit groups and charity organizations that support police officers and firefighters. Since its founding in 2011, MISSION BBQ has opened 85 additional locations in 16 states.
"Every day we strive to celebrate what makes our country great and to honor those who gave their lives for us," said Bill Kraus, co-founder of MISSION BBQ. "We are truly privileged to be partnering with Wreaths Across America, an organization that shares a very similar mission and values as our own."
WAA began in 1992 in Harrington, Maine, when the Worcester Wreath Company sought to turn a surplus of 5,000 holiday wreaths into an opportunity to pay tribute to our country's veterans. With the help of then Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, the company's owner, Morrill Worcester, arranged for the surplus wreaths to be placed at Arlington National Cemetery as a tribute to our country's veterans. The tradition has continued on and over the last 27 years, the event has grown in scope, touching the lives of thousands of veterans' families and volunteers. In 2018, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers placed nearly 1.8 million veterans' wreaths at 1,640 locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad.
"The local support MISSION BBQ provides in the areas where their employees and customers live and work is exactly the type of 'community' we hope Wreaths Across America fosters," said Karen Worcester, executive director of WAA. "Through the generosity of MISSION BBQ not only are wreaths being sponsored and placed locally, but thousands of Americans are informed about ways to play a part in their own communities."
American Heroes Cups are available year-round, currently retailing at $3.99 with $2 of every cup purchased donated to a charity supporting veterans and first-responders. Now through Dec. 31, 2019, proceeds from the American Heroes Cups will be donated to WAA. Customers are encouraged to bring back their American Heroes Cup on return visits to the restaurant to receive $.99 refills. To find a MISSION BBQ location near you visit: https://mission-bbq.com/locations.
National Wreaths Across America Day is a free event and open to all people. For more information, visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.
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 by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester 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 at hundreds 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.
About MISSION BBQ:
MISSION BBQ opened its doors for business on September 11, 2011. We believe there is nothing more American than BBQ. And nobody more American than the brave men and women who have sworn to protect and serve Our Communities and Our Country. We do what we do for the love of our soldiers, firefighters, police officers, and first responders—all our loved ones in service. We set across this great land from Texas to Kansas City, the Carolinas to St. Louis...to discover the secrets of great BBQ. Every day we strive to serve you authentic BBQ made from the freshest, most delectable ingredients, and serve it to you in a patriotic dining room filled with tributes to those who've made Our Country great, given to us by the people who earned them. Stop by at lunchtime, and you might catch us during our daily salute to the Stars and Stripes. For more information about MISSION BBQ: http://mission-bbq.com/
Press contacts:
Linda Dotterer
MISSION BBQ
(855) 552-7300
[email protected]
Amber Caron
Wreaths Across America
(207) 513-6457
[email protected]
SOURCE Wreaths Across America
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