GREAT BEND–Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WEC) announced today that the Barton County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee has been awarded a $1,000 grant from the WEC Sharing Success Fund.
The Barton County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee, which brought The Wall That Heals Vietnam Veterans Memorial Replica and Mobile Education Center to Great Bend last year, plans to use the Sharing Success grant toward a permanent memorial to publicly recognize and honor the sacrifice of Vietnam veterans and their families.
The anticipated 50-foot-long memorial will be installed at Veterans Memorial Park in Great Bend. The free-standing metal sculpture is being designed by Hoisington artist Bruce Bitter at B & B Metal Arts.
The sculpture depicts soldiers crouching in elephant grass with a helicopter hovering overhead.
A plaque will be placed at the memorial giving important information about the number of men and women soldiers that have died or were injured in Vietnam as well as the number of soldiers missing in action.
The group hopes to have the project completed and ready for public viewing ahead of this year’s Veterans Day in November.
The Barton County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee continues to raise funds to complete the memorial and has partnered with the Great Bend Foundation to allow for tax-deductible donations.
If you are interested in helping with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial project, send your donation to the Great Bend Foundation, Inc., PO Box 533, Great Bend, KS 67530 and include Barton County Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the memorandum. Donations of any size will be accepted.
The Scott Community Foundation began formally accepting applications for grants from the WEC Sharing Success Fund from community-based organizations on December 1, 2012. Since then, the application process has been moved internally and is currently handled directly by WEC. This year, WEC and CoBank have once again each contributed $10,000 to the fund.
The program will continue to run until the funds are exhausted. Since 2012, WEC’s Sharing Success Fund has made $145,000 available to community-based organizations and projects across their service territory.
Community based organizations interested in receiving funding from the WEC Sharing Success Fund can apply online. Questions should be referred to Alli Conine, Director of Member Services & Corporate Communications, at 620-874-4563 or aconine@weci.net.
