Alton's Wreaths Across America Campaign Begins Fundraising Efforts

Our Daily Show Interview! Wreaths Across America: Fundraising Has Started

ALTON - Alton’s Wreaths Across America campaign has begun fundraising efforts.

Organizer Margaret Hopkins stopped by “Our Daily Show!” with C.J. Nasello to talk about the Wreaths Across America program, in which volunteers lay wreaths on every grave at Alton National Cemetery. She shared that the Alton group needs to raise at least $9,500 by December to make this happen.

“We need financial support. We’d like to have a wreath on every grave at the Alton National, which is about 560. So we need to raise about $9,500 to get that done. Each wreath is $17,” Hopkins explained. “And then after we raise the money for the 560, we always like to pay it forward to people who have veterans laid to rest at other cemeteries. We have those extra wreath reservations. Unless we have an overage of the 560, we won’t be able to do that this year.”

The Wreaths Across America campaign is a national program that lays wreaths on the graves of veterans across the country. Last year, there were over 4,900 participating locations in the U.S. and over 3 million wreaths laid.

In Alton, Hopkins and her team laid a wreath at every grave in the Alton National Cemetery and gave away an additional 144 wreaths to families who have loved ones buried in other cemeteries. She hopes to raise enough money to do the same this year.

Though last year’s wreath-laying ceremony was rainy, Hopkins was “surprised and delighted” to welcome students from East Elementary School, who worked with local veterans to lay wreaths at Alton National Cemetery. Students also wrote letters of thanks to the veterans at the Missouri Veterans Home. The kids have been invited to come back this year, and Hopkins looks forward to working with them again.

“That’s the third part of the mission, to teach children the value of freedom,” she said. “I think we do that very well by letting those children come and actually participate. They learn from their veteran counterpart as they lay those wreaths.”

Wreaths Across America Day is set for Dec. 13, 2025, and Hopkins hopes to raise over the $9,500 benchmark so they can once again honor veterans across the Riverbend region. While the day’s ceremony will be largely the same as in previous years, the Alton High School ROTC plans to add a new element, which she can’t wait to see.

This year’s national Wreaths Across America theme is “Keep Moving Forward.” This idea resonates with Hopkins and her team.

“That’s what we have to do,” she said. “It’s timely because we all meet adversity in life, and you have to overcome. You have to meet those problems and just keep going and make things happen.”

You can donate to Alton’s Wreaths Across America campaign by making checks payable to Wreaths Across America and sending them to P.O. Box 3081 in Alton.

To learn more about the local Wreaths Across America initiative, visit their official Facebook page. For more information about donating or volunteering, you can contact Hopkins directly at hopkins1014@sbcglobal.net or by calling 618-570-8804.

“It is amazing,” she added. “It’s really never too early to remember those people who have served and provide for our freedom.”