My Nonprofit Reviews

I am Violette Denney and I am currently the treasurer for the Carroll County Veterans Memorial Park Association, Inc. (CCVMP). In January 2003 I attended the CCVMP Committee meeting for the purpose of seeing “why it was taking so long to make progress at the park!” At that time I was very involved in several other groups and did not have much time to donate but I was told very frankly that the reason was “help.” The group, mostly veterans, said they needed help to organize and raise money. First I was asked to serve as membership chairman, so I contacted prospective members and created a directory for the veterans to use. Next I volunteered to organize some records and make working list in alphabetical and numerical order. This enabled them to know who was on the Wall of Honor and who they needed to contact. As time went on I set up a blog, web site, cleared up their problems with IRS/Form 990s. In 2006 I was asked to serve as treasurer, this required a change in their bylaws to allow a non-veteran to hold an executive office. This was a unanimous decision. (I am not a veteran but my husband was. He died in 2007.) My challenge to the committee was I would help them as long as we could show progress. With a lot of divine guidance we have been able to get a lot of other groups to help us, like the Carroll County Master Gardeners, Junior Women Club, boy and girl scout groups, ROTC groups, University of West Georgia Arboretum, city and county government, and others. We have made tremendous progress raising and spending over one-half million dollars, but there is so much more that we want to do. We want this to be the prettiest place in this area. We want it to be the one place that everyone wants to visit and honor our veterans because we know it is because of them that we are still a free nation. We also know that freedom is not free. We have two programs each year at the park – Memorial Day and Veterans Day – for the purpose of bringing people into the park. These are well attended and we have been given good feedback from everyone. Visit our blog http://carrollcountyveteransmemoialpark.blogspot.com and website http://carrollcountyveteransmemorialpark.com , you will see some of the progress – KIA Walls, 18 completed Walls of Honor (working on # 19), MIA/POW Wall, Emblem Wall, Contributor Wall (names of those who gave so we could build the park), Fountain, Pavilion, walkways, benches, etc. It is awesome to hear the veterans describe their pride in our park. It is an even greater feeling of satisfaction to hear families who have lost their loved one in war to express their appreciation for our park. I have heard many say that they felt like this was sacred ground when they walked through. The park is open and veterans and visitors are encouraged to visit any time. And, we do have lots of visitors. Now we need more help, we need to expand the park and make room for more Walls of Honor, more attractive features, and continuous landscaping work. It is extremely hard now to raise money because of lack of funds for education and health care. But we still know that without our veterans our freedom is in jeopardy! We need to continuously show our appreciation for our troops and veterans and encourage everyone to put their Trust In God. I am so involved with the Veterans Park that my name is almost synonymous with the park as it is with DAR, quilters, and First Christian Church. Besides all the above our park is the only one in this area dedicated to our troops and veterans. Thank you for the privilege to tell my story!

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