A young boy in Redding, California, believes veterans should not just be honored on Veteran’s Day, but every day. And he’s spent the last 2 years working to make that happen.
On Veteran’s Day in 2015, Preston Sharp visited his grandfather’s grave in Redding and was distressed to discover most of the other veterans’ gravesites lacked flags, flowers or any other indication that the living remembered their wartime sacrifices; whether they died in battle or otherwise, Preston believes they all deserve to be honored.
CBS
Preston, then 10 years old, was upset for so long that his mom finally told him, “’If you’re going to complain about something, you’re going to have to do something about it or let it go.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to do something about it, Mom.’â€
And he did. In a very big way.
Preston was suddenly on a one-boy mission, using donations and money earned from working odd jobs to buy flags and flowers to place on each and every veteran’s grave in his grandfather’s cemetery. Once he finished his job there, he moved on to other cemeteries in the surrounding counties and started checking them off his list.
CBS
His goal has now expanded to include every veteran gravesite between his home and the state capitol, Sacramento, about 160 miles south of Redding. And he’s made great headway since that day in 2015, so far ensuring that flags and flowers make their way to over 23,000 graves.
GoFundMe
To help with that effort, he’s set up a GoFundMe site, which has so far raised over $30,000 of its $50,000 goal, with many of the donors leaving encouraging messages for this patriotic and dedicated boy.
GoFundMe
Watch the video below about this incredibly ambitious effort, and share to spread inspiration!
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