Through Wreaths Across America
Sara Stadem | Editor
Central States Manufacturing, Inc. (CSMI) in Hartford is stepping outside of their normal giving back box and giving back in a different way this holiday season by joining the Wreaths Across America (WAA) Project.
Logistics Supervisor for Central States Manufacturing for Missouri, Jose Socorro, is the Company Project Lead for WAA. Socorro explained the WAA is an organization that celebrates veterans, particularly fallen soldiers, through a wreath ceremony.
According to WAA’s website, December 18 is National Wreath Across America Day and on that day, their mission to remember, honor and teach is carried out through wreath-laying ceremonies. This is done at more than 2,500 locations in the 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad.
Socorro explained Morrill Worcester was in the wreathmaking business and was the owner of Worcester Wreath Company. In 1992, explained Socorro, Worcester had a truckload of wreaths he didn’t know what to do with at the end of the holiday season. Worcester came up with the idea to place the wreaths at the Arlington National Cemetery in one of the older sections of the cemetery that was receiving fewer visitors as the years were passing, according to AWW’s website.
Since that first year, Socorro explained WAA have laid millions of wreaths to fallen soldiers gravesites and CSMI decided they wanted to play a part in this project.
According to Socorro, there were a few main reasons for the push to assist with this project, the biggest reason to show support to veterans and show gratitude for their service. Another drive to participate with this project was that it was something all 11 CSMI sites could do on the same day.
Socorro explained he had become aware of WAA in 2015 at an event he was attending for his previous job. Socorro was moved by the event and remembered this when he started to work at CSMI.
“When I came to Central States, I noticed there was an opportunity to do something for veterans as we hadn’t been doing anything yet,” Socorro said. “We have veterans that are employed with Central States, drivers and employees that work in the plant and some in the corporate office. So, this was a way to engage veterans as well within Central States.”
“When I started my training (at CSMI), one of the people I rode with was a veteran. Our CEO Jim Sliker is great and has respect for veterans but no one had really stepped up and took charge of it,” Socorro said. “That’s why I decided to help out and this is just the beginning of us getting engaged and supporting our veterans.”
According to Socorro, through a financial donation to WAA, CSMI was able to donate the wreaths for the cemeteries that each one of their 11 sites will be at during the ceremonies that take place on December 18. The donation came to be over 1,600 wreaths, Socorro explained.
Many of the giving back projects that CSMI does pertains to children and schools in communities, Socorro said, with CEO Sliker being heavily involved with them all. “He’s (Sliker) all about people and about people being taken care of,” Socorro said. He explained this project was a way to step outside of that norm and continue to passion for taking care of others. Human Resource Business Partner in Hartford, Brittany Glanzer, explained when they first watched the video about WAA for their team, the closest cemetery that participated was in Rapid City or Nebraska. With some work, they were able to locate a cemetery in Sioux Falls. So, the Hartford site will be able to participate locally on Saturday.
“It’s completely different and it is very exciting that we found an organization across the United States that all of our plants could participate in,” Glanzer said. “The other one they found is Make a Wish but this really gets our drivers involved as most of our drivers are veterans and it gives them an opportunity to reflex and be a part of this.”
Glanzer continued, “We are so appreciative that we have been able to do this as a company across the board for all 11 of our locations and be able to a part of a project like this to show our veterans how much we appreciate their sacrifices.”
CSMI has not put any limitations on who can participate in the ceremony, Glanzer explained. It is open to everyone at the Harford site to be involved in this project.
The feedback from CSMI employees has been great, according to Socorro. “I can tell you that we had a Christmas party recently and I spoke to some of the drivers. They were all ecstatic and excited,” Socorro said. “One of them has a family member buried in one of the cemeteries and they are so touched with it all.”
“Our company is excited to engage with veterans and to help with such a good cause,” Socorro said. He continued, “Our corporate staff is even saying, ‘just tell us where you want us to be and we will be there.’”
“We are very lucky to have Jose spearhead this in order for our entire company to be able to join together and have this opportunity at all of our sites,” Glanzer said. She concluded, “We are always looking for opportunities to give back to the communities and to help others out. We are also always looking to build partnerships as that is a big one for us.”
Socorro explained this will be a big giving back project over the course of the next few years as CSMI continues to grow it. They will be looking at the cost and evaluating what it will take to help haul wreaths, in addition to the financial donation, so that CSMI can assist in delivering the wreaths throughout the locations.
The ceremony is set for this Saturday, December 18, at 11 am at South Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Sioux Falls and CSMI currently has six volunteers that will be participating.