BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Volunteers in Melbourne came out by the dozens on Saturday to help show their support for veterans.
Among those lending a hand were Veteran Cemetery Restoration Inc. and nearly 90 volunteers from the community, including current and former high school students, American Legion Post 191 and about 50 JROTC members.
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Bruce Rothschild, CEO of Veteran Cemetery Restoration Inc., started the non profit organization three years ago after a veteran came to him about the shape of the cemetery.
Volunteers were at the JN Tucker Memorial Cemetery Shady Oaks to restore veteran and civilian graves. Crews wiped down graves, cleaned up trash, wiped down graves, cut the grass and removed branches from cemetery grounds.
The cemetery, founded in 1912 as an African-American cemetery, had become a homeless camp and was full of garbage. There were even broken and open gravesites.
There are roughly 35 veterans buried at JN Tucker Memorial Cemetery.
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The non profit assists in cleaning up donation-only cemeteries that don’t have any long-term maintenance care.
In total, Veteran Cemetery Restoration Inc. has helped restore the graves of over 200 veterans and 700 civilians.
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