By Pat Powers (Radio Iowa)

Volunteers will be laying wreaths on hundreds of veterans’ graves in cemeteries across Iowa this Saturday as part of the national event called Wreaths Across America.

Luanne Jackson, Hamilton County’s Veteran Affairs director, is coordinating efforts in her area. “It’s a national wreath day of laying wreaths and honoring those who have given their lives during service or since they served,” Jackson says, “so it’s honoring all our veterans.”

Organizers say it’s an event which aims to help ensure the people who served our country will never be forgotten. Jackson says they began last year with the South Marion Cemetery in Stratford and have added several more area graveyards this year.

“We started with Lawn Hill and Presbyterian Church in Kamrar,” Jackson says. “We have added to that the Community Church of Kamrar Cemetery and Liberty Center Cemetery.” Among the other Iowa communities taking part on Saturday, volunteers in Urbandale will place more than 100 wreaths on veterans’ graves at McDivitt Grove Cemetery.

Volunteers will also lay wreaths at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Adel, at the Iowa Veterans Home and Cemetery in Marshalltown, and in Iowa Falls. The Iowa cemeteries join more than 3,100 nationwide in the project.