This Veterans Day, and ahead of Giving Tuesday, the Fallen Five Memorial Committee invites the community to participate in a “Matching Grant Challenge” to close out fundraising efforts to complete the Fallen Five Memorial under construction in the Tennessee Riverpark.
The Lyndhurst Foundation has agreed to match up to $100,000 that is raised by the community to help cover the remaining $200,000 needed to complete the project.
“Thanks to generous gifts from individuals, the Chattanooga Heroes Run, City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County, the Fallen Five Memorial is very close to reaching its total fundraising goal of $825,000,” said Katelyn Kirnie, director of Public Art Chattanooga. “The $825,000 covers the cost of the memorial, as well as a fund for ongoing maintenance. Lyndhurst’s match of every dollar raised up to $100,000 will help us complete that goal.”
‘Wreath of Honor,’ designed by Shane Allbritton and Norman Lee, will honor the five servicemen killed during the July 16, 2015 tragic shootings at the Armed Services Recruiting Center on Lee Highway and the U.S. Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway.
“The memorial will provide a sacred space for Chattanoogans to remember the lives of those lost on that day, reflect on their heroism and how we came together as a community,” said Kelly Cotton, representative of the Fallen Five Memorial Committee and liaison to the families of the fallen.
Erlanger Hospital and Rock Creek Outfitters are contributing proceeds from the 2018 Heroes Run, totaling $13,000, as the first gift in the matching grant challenge. The Fallen Five Memorial is also a featured veterans cause in CHAGives, Chattanooga’s own city-wide Giving Tuesday campaign, which will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
For more information about the project and to donate, visit: https://publicartchattanooga.com/fallenfivememorial/.