WATE 6 On Your Side is proud to once again partner with Operation Honor Guard for the annual donation drive. The fundraiser is 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 12. You can also donate right now, online!
WATE staff will be at 6 donation sites Wednesday: WATE station, Ingles stores in Morristown, New Tazewell and Lenoir City; Pinnacle at Turkey Creek; and Tanger Outlet in Sevierville.
This fundraiser is the primary source of income for Operation Honor Guard and local Honor Guard units. Because of you, WATE’s Operation Honor Guard fundraiser gathered $70,480 in 2021!
Where does the money raised go?
Money collected during the Operation Honor Guard Day of Giving will support these local Honor Guard units: Volunteer State Veterans Honor Guard, East Tennessee Veterans Honor Guard, Veterans Military Honor Guard of Pigeon Forge, Tri-County Veterans Honor Guard, Loudon County Veterans Honor Guard and American Legion Post 104 Honor Guard.
What does the Honor Guard do?
It is the goal of the Honor Guard to offer a last tribute of respect to their departed comrades by rendering military funeral honors to any honorably discharged veteran, without any regard to sex, race, color, creed, national origin, or military rank. There is no cost for this service to the family.
Honor Guard members are all volunteers. The six East Tennessee Honor Guard units supported by this event serve at more than 300 military funerals each year. According to Operation Honor Guard, it costs about $125 to dispatch and serve at a funeral. This cost doesn’t account for uniforms, which can run as much as $800 for each member. That means Operation Honor Guard will need about $63,000 to support these units for just one year.
Thanks to our 2022 Sponsors
The 2022 Operation Honor Guard fund drive is sponsored by Ingles, Knoxville Wholesale Furniture, Pilot Company, Maryville College, Mr. Handyman, Tennessee Shine, IBEW Local Union 760, and Knoxville Law Enforcement Federal Credit Union. WATE would like to express deep gratitude to these partners for helping to make this effort possible.
