The Lisle Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5696 has been awarded a grant by the Home Depot Foundation to support construction of a new veterans’ memorial in Lisle.
The grant provides for more than $16,000 in Home Depot materials, plus the volunteer labor, equipment rental fees and delivery charges required to install those materials.
Additionally, Oct. 11, 2016, has been designated as “Home Depot Day” for the new memorial. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., approximately 100 volunteers from Home Depot and the local community descended upon the construction site to install the sod, sand and mulch, to plant the trees and shrubs, and to cut and lay the bricks being provided under the grant.
The new Memorial site is located in downtown Lisle at 921 School St.
In mid 2015, a Lisle Veterans’ Memorial Committee was appointed by the village to raise the funds necessary to construct the new memorial, which replaces a memorial constructed more than 20 years ago in Community Park.
Karen Burris, along with her husband Dan, leads the Veterans’ Memorial Committee. She said the grant put them “over the top” of their fundraising goal. Since being notified of the grant, the Burris’ won the Illinois Association of Park District’s Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award for their efforts in publicizing and fundraising for the Memorial.
Dan Garvey, director of parks and recreation, said he is “looking forward to working with the volunteers” and incorporating the grant components into the overall construction efforts of the memorial.
The Home Depot Foundation partners with nonprofits to honor veterans and support local communities. This grant is part of Home Depot’s commitment to grow its support for veteran-related causes to $250 million by 2020.