St. Luke's Allentown Seeking Donations for 'Wreaths Across America'

Oct. 10, 2018 - St. Luke’s Allentown Campus is helping to raise money to lay 1,500 wreaths at Resurrection Cemetery on Krocks Road in Wescosville as part of National Wreaths Across America Day. Each December, Wreaths Across America coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies to honor fallen veterans at more than 1,400 locations across the country, at sea and abroad. This year’s event will be held Saturday, December 15.

“Our goal is to recognize every veteran at rest in Resurrection Cemetery,” said Robert Smith, St. Luke’s Hospital Allentown Campus Manager Safety & Security. “There are almost 1,500 veterans’ gravesites at Resurrection. This event brings the community together to remember our veterans. Friends, family and grateful citizens can all participate. Donate a wreath or join in the ceremony. Everyone can be a part of the moving day.”

Each wreath sponsorship is $15 and can be made in the name of a specific person or all who have served. To donate a wreath, go to donate.wreathsacrossameria.org. Please make donations by November 30th.

Flag-bearing wreaths honoring the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marines and Pow/MIA also will be laid and will be provided by the Wreaths Across America national organization.

Looking for volunteers

In addition to financial donations, St. Luke’s Allentown Campus is looking for veterans and a POW/MIA family member to participate in the formal ceremony before the wreath-laying. The ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the wreath-laying promptly at noon. Children of veterans and St. Luke’s employees also may volunteer to speak on “What a veteran means to me.” Those wishing to participate can call 1-866-STLUKES (785-8537).

St. Luke’s also welcomes volunteers to help distribute and lay the wreaths and coordinate traffic at the cemetery.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony. “A robust turnout makes Wreaths Across America a unifying community event,” said Von George, St. Luke’s University Health Network Director, Supply Chain Logistics. Smith will serve as master of ceremonies.

Wreaths Across America, a non-profit organization based in Maine and founded in 1992, strives to “Remember, Honor, Teach." Resurrection Cemetery is under the auspices of the Diocese of Allentown.

St. Luke’s Hospital Allentown Campus has taken over the role of coordinating the event from Air Products in Trexlertown, which started area participation in 2012. Other groups participating in the event include veterans’ organizations, Boy Scouts of America, Knights of Columbus and individual contributors.

The event will be held rain or shine.

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About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 14,000 employees providing services at 10 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient sites.  With annual net revenue greater than $2 billion, the Network’s service area includes 10 counties: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.  Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.  In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first and only regional medical school campus.  It also operates the nation’s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 28 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 226 residents and fellows.  St. Luke’s is the only health care system in central-eastern Pennsylvania to earn Medicare’s five-star rating (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.  St. Luke’s has earned the 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation from IBM Watson Health (formerly Truven Health Analytics) repeatedly – six times total and four years in a row including 2018.  It has also been cited by IBM Watson Health as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Program.  Utilizing the EPIC electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.  St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers.