The Honor Flight program is a nationwide network dedicated to providing all veterans who apply a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit memorials honoring their service and sacrifice. Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois is an established 501c3 non-profit hub of the Honor Flight network. They are planning of flight of veterans from Southern Illinois to Washington D.C. in the Fall of 2017.
All expenses for this one day trip are covered by Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois including the flight, ground transportation, meals and beverages. The trip is provided absolutely free of charge to the veterans through fundraisers, donations and sponsors.
Fundraisers
- Pepsi MidAmerica, along with Black Diamond Harley Davidson, are raffling off a 2017 Harley Davidson Sportster 883 Iron to raise funds for the Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois. The official raffling will begin on Monday, February 13 and the drawing will take place on Friday, March 31. Only 1,000 tickets will be sold at $25 a piece.
- Dine in Dollars event will take place on March 14 at 17th Street Bar & Grill. 10% of all food sold will be donated to the Honor Flight of Southern Illinois.
- The Marion VFW is hosting a dinner on March 10 from 5-8 p.m., catered by 17th Street Bar & Grill. Tickets are $15 each. Music starts at 8 p.m. Proceeds will go to Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois.
- Pass Heating and Cooling is running a benefit until March where they will donate $10 for every service call and $50 for every installation and then match that amount up to $5,000 for the Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois.
“We built and opened up the WWII memorial in Washington D.C. in 2004 in memory of the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home. When the memorial was opened in 2004, the majority of the veterans if not all were already 77 years old and older. So here we are 13 years later and the opportunity for us to allow our WWII veterans to experience the memorial that was built for them is fading fast,” said Daniel Nalley, vice president of operations at Pepsi MidAmerica. “We want to take this opportunity to show our veterans that their dedication and sacrifice to their country did not go unnoticed. We can all provide this opportunity with Honor Flight of Southern Illinois.”
Donations
Each flight is made possible by generous contributions from people just like you. If you would like to help honor a veteran, please visit www.veteranshonorflight.org, mail a check to Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois, 10400 Terminal Drive, Suite 200, Marion, IL 62959, or donate in person at any Peoples National Bank location.
Donors who have given between $100-$499 to support the Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois thus far are:
- A&K Specialty Contractors
- American Legion – Herrin
- Bob Stotlar Building Center
- Coldwell Banker/First Realty
- First Mid Illinois Bank and Trust
- First National Bank of Steelville
- First United Methodist Church
- Kimmel, E. Dan and Barbara
- Koonce Insurance Agency
- Marion Toyota
- Maurizo
- Midcountry Bank
- Savage, Patrick
- Southern Illinois Minors
- State Farm – Kenya Garner
- The Insurance House
- Whitehead, Terri
- Williams Auto Body Repair
Sponsors
If you would like to sponsor of the Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois (donations of more than $500), please visit www.veteranshonorflight.org, mail a check to Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois, 10400 Terminal Drive, Suite 200, Marion, IL 62959, or donate in person at any Peoples National Bank location.
Sponsors who have given more than $500 to support Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois include:
- Aisin
- AMVETS – Marion
- Black Diamond Harley-Davidson
- Brennan Family Foundation
- Campanella Law Firm
- Clarke Transportation Services
- DAV – Marion
- Dave Thompson Realty
- Elks – Marion
- Eubanks, Thomas
- First Southern Bank
- Hale’s Automotive
- Heartland Rotary
- Kleidon, Earl and Joan
- Marrone, Jane and Samuel
- Moreland Inc. (McDonalds)
- Novacom
- Pass One Hour Heating & Air
- Peoples National Bank
- Pepsi
- Trico High School
- VFW – Marion
- VFW & American Legion Ritual Team – Marion
The program’s executive board governs the hub and the program utilizes volunteers and guardians in order to accomplish its mission.
