Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

douglas9

(4,474 posts)
Wed Dec 13, 2023, 12:18 PM Dec 2023

The truth about Wreaths Across America

Wreaths Across America is a non-profit organization that places wreaths on the graves of military veterans. It's a simple gesture that has proven popular. Wreaths Across America placed 33,000 wreaths in 2007, its first year. This year, the organization expects to place 2.9 million wreaths at 4,225 cemeteries across all 50 states, a spokesperson for the organization tells Popular Information.

According to Wreaths Across America, wreath-laying is a "simple act of gratitude" that "brings together communities and supports local veterans and military families." But while the wreaths provide symbolic support for veterans and military families, the overwhelming majority of the over $30 million raised in the fiscal year that ended in June 2022 goes to Worcester Wreath Company, which produces the wreaths.

Wreaths Across America was founded in 2007 by members of the Worcester family, owners of the Worcester Wreath Company. The creation of the Wreaths Across America occurred around the same time that Worcester Wreath Company lost its contract with L.L. Bean, which accounted for 90% of Worcester Resources' wreath sales. Rob Worcester, a co-owner of Worcester Wreath Company, said that the loss of L.L. Bean's business following a legal dispute left the firm "in dire straights." The wreath-laying charity, he said, "allowed us to get our feet back under us." Rob Worcester's wife is a member of the Wreaths Across America board.

By 2018, according to reports, Wreaths Across America provided between 75-80% of the company's revenue. Last year, Wreaths Across America collected over 50% more revenue than it did in 2018.

https://popular.info/p/the-truth-about-wreaths-across-america

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The truth about Wreaths Across America (Original Post) douglas9 Dec 2023 OP
Worth the read. These are not good, honest people. quaint Dec 2023 #1
Wow...great info that I wasn't aware of. K&R Docreed2003 Dec 2023 #2
Wreaths Across America Has Family Ties to Its Supplier mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2023 #3

mahatmakanejeeves

(60,923 posts)
3. Wreaths Across America Has Family Ties to Its Supplier
Thu Dec 14, 2023, 10:27 AM
Dec 2023

The article is from 2015. It may or may not reflect current conditions.

U.S.

Wreaths Across America Has Family Ties to Its Supplier

The charity exclusively buys its military grave decorations from a closely linked Maine company

By Michael M. Phillips
Dec. 21, 2015 6:26 pm ET

Each Christmas, the charity Wreaths Across America places millions of dollars in decorations on military graves at Arlington National Cemetery and elsewhere, in what has become a national remembrance of the country’s fallen.

Tax filings, court documents and interviews, however, reveal a distinctly commercial aspect to the charity’s operations.

The...

TO READ THE FULL STORY
SUBSCRIBE SIGN IN

Should You Donate to Wreaths Across America? A Lesson in Charitable Giving

Money Talks News
Stacy Johnson, Money Talks News•December 14, 2015

{snip}

But the wreaths that Wreaths Across America uses aren’t free and they’re not donated. They’re paid for with donated money. Individuals pay $15 to sponsor one wreath, $30 to sponsor two, and so on. The organization’s online form explains its most popular donation is $75 to sponsor five wreaths. ... And therein lies a potential problem with the way this nonprofit operates.

Wreaths Across America was started by a for-profit company that makes and sells wreaths ... According to its website, Wreaths Across America was founded in 2007 by the Worcester family. The patriarch, Morrill Worcester, is president of Worcester Wreaths, a for-profit wreath-making company. His wife, Karen Worcester, is the executive director of the nonprofit Wreaths Across America.

Every wreath used by Wreaths Across America is purchased with donated money from the for-profit company that started it, Worcester Wreath.

The relationship between the company and nonprofit isn’t hidden. It’s easy to find on both the Worcester Wreath site and the Wreaths Across America site. But this relationship should raise the eyebrows of anyone donating to this charity. When donations to a nonprofit are used to purchase goods from the for-profit company that founded it, it raises the potential for problems. Is the nonprofit overpaying for its wreaths? Is the for-profit enriching itself at the expense of donors?

{snip}

Conflicts of Interest Are a Red Flag for Donors: Some Charity Insiders May Take Unfair Advantage of Their Position
Feb 20, 2018

The term “conflict of interest” has been seen and heard quite often in the political news arena over the last year or so. President Trump’s potential conflicts of interest, in particular, have been hotly debated given the substantial personal business interests of the Trump family and many of the President’s past and present White House advisers and cabinet members.

{snip}

How outrageous can some of the conflicts of interest within a charity really be? You can judge for yourself from the three real life examples below.

(1) The Sekulow Family: Turning “Law & Justice” Charities into Personal Millions

The American Center for Law and Justice or “ACLJ” may be a familiar name to some donors, but there are actually two different charities that use that name to raise funds – American Center for Law and Justice and Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism. The charities each file their own Form 990 with the IRS and issue separate audited financial statements, but as the name confusion suggests, the charities otherwise are interconnected in a number of ways. In particular, one family is at the heart of those connections, and in what appears to be an outrageous example of conflicts of interest, that family and its businesses have used the ACLJ charities to reap millions in personal benefits.

{snip}

(2) Up to No Good at Goodwill Omaha: Related Party Contract Conflicts Abound

{snip}

(3) “Naughty or Nice?”: Wreaths Across America Funds Its Related Wreath Company

Each holiday season the charity Wreaths Across America (WAA) coordinates the placement of wreaths on the cemetery headstones of veterans. The annual wreath-laying tradition started in 1992, long before WAA was founded, when Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, arranged for his company’s 5,000 wreath-surplus at season’s end to be placed in one of the older, less visited sections of Arlington National Cemetery. About 15 years later, the Worcesters, along with veterans and others who had helped with their annual wreath-laying tradition at Arlington, formed WAA in 2007 “to continue and expand this effort, and support other groups around the country who wanted to do the same.”

Karen Worcester, the wife of Worcester Wreath’s Morrill Worcester, has been the executive director of WAA since the start. One of Morrill and Karen’s daughters, two of their daughters-in-law, as well as a former senior Worcester Wreath employee and his then-wife, also joined the initial WAA board of directors, according to a December 2015 article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The year after WAA was formed, tens of thousands of volunteers helped place over 100,000 wreaths on the graves of veterans at over 300 locations, and the number of wreath placements has been growing ever since. In 2017, more than 1,565,000 wreaths were placed at 1,422 locations, including Arlington National Cemetery where all 244,700 markers received a wreath.

{snip}

I'm clearing out old newspapers. This article in The Wall Street Journal. caught my eye. It's from 2015. I don't know if the financial ties are still in place.

Thu May 14, 2020: Wreaths Across America Has Family Ties to Its Supplier

Sat Dec 15, 2018: Today, Saturday, December 15, 2018, is National Wreaths Across America Day!
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Veterans»The truth about Wreaths A...