Local volunteers are working hard to ensure that all veterans laid to rest at Sky-View Memorial Park in Hometown are honored this December on National Wreaths Across America Day.

This year, the ceremony, held simultaneously across the country at more than 4,200 participating locations, will be on Dec. 14.

The goal for Sky-View Memorial Park in Rush Township is to raise enough funds to place 3,762 sponsored veterans’ wreaths on the headstones of all the local heroes laid to rest there, to ensure that the individuals who served to protect the freedoms of our country will never be forgotten, and to bring the community together in patriotic commemoration.

The deadlines for wreath sponsorship are quickly approaching. To date, volunteers have 915, or 24%, of the wreaths sponsored, The deadline for orders via check is Nov. 19 and online orders have been extended until Dec. 3, which is Giving Tuesday. Volunteers ask the public to consider sponsoring a wreath or volunteering to help them meet their goal.

To sponsor a wreath with check or money order, make it payable to “Wreaths Across America” and send to Eric Zizelmann, 500 E. Broad St., Tamaqua, PA 18252.

To sponsor a wreath online or volunteer, visit http://wreathsacrossamerica.org/PA0524.

This is the fifth year that the local cemetery is participating in the national program.

Glenn Hummel, one of the nine location coordinators for Sky-View Memorial Park, said that veterans exemplify selflessness and dedication to both their country and to each other.

“We owe a debt to our country’s heroes that we can never fully repay, but we can honor their sacrifice, and we must,” he said.

Hummel cited the crowd sizes from recent years and is heartened by what he has seen.

“Families of veterans, Girl and Boy Scouts, church groups, and entire families take an hour or two on a Saturday in December to pay tribute. Witnessing it warms your heart and carries you through till Christmas,” Hummel said.

National Wreaths Across America Day is a free community event open to all.

The nonprofit organization was founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery that was started by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s mission — Remember, Honor, Teach — is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries in all 50 states.