{"id":19263,"date":"2022-05-30T09:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grantwatch.com\/grantnews\/?p=19263"},"modified":"2022-06-02T08:18:21","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T12:18:21","slug":"memorial-day-2022-10-grants-for-veterans-and-their-loved-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grantwatch.com\/grantnews\/memorial-day-2022-10-grants-for-veterans-and-their-loved-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial Day 2022: 10 Grants for Veterans and Their Loved Ones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Memorial Day is celebrated every year on May 30th in the USA and it is a day we remember America’s fallen heroes. We honor the memory of those who have died fighting for our freedom. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971<\/a> after it had already been celebrated by several states across the country. We salute our country with a day of remembrance and celebration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is actually a very important backstory to this day. The day started to honor the end of the Civil War and the brave soldiers who fought and died to end slavery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GrantWatch<\/a> has many grants for veterans. This year and every year in the past, GrantWatch offers a 5% rebate to any nonprofit whose mission statement includes serving veterans. And in honor of Memorial Day, GrantWatch will be sharing 10 of these grants below! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Nationwide Memorial Day<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When Memorial Day was first celebrated people knew it as Declaration Day. The first nationwide celebration took place on On May 30th, 1868. General John A. Logan, a leader of Nothern Civil War veterans called for this day on May 5th of that same year. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this first official Declaration Day, General (and future President) James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery. In addition, 5,000 volunteers decorated the graves of 20,000 Civil War veterans buried in the cemetery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to it becoming an official holiday, almost a hundred years after the conclusion of the Civil War, memorials to fallen soldiers took place all around the country. According to some records, former slaves held one of the earliest recorded Memorial Day celebrations. A professor of American History at Yale University named David Blight discovered an early commemoration that took place in 1866. What Professor Blight found in a box of unsorted materials lent to him by Harvard’s Houghton Library was enlightening. A file labeled \u2018First Decoration Day’ and a narrative written by a veteran, along with a newspaper article were in the box. This material told the story of a march that took place on a racetrack in 1865. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honoring the Fallen<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The racetrack was Washington Race Course and Jockey Club in Charleston, South Carolina. Toward the end of the Civil War, the Confederate Army transformed it into a prison for Union captives. More than 260 union soldiers died from the disease and exposure here. When Charleston fell, enslaved people were finally free, and the now-emancipated people stayed. They took the time to give proper burials to these soldiers. They built a new cemetery to re-inter each of these soldiers, with words printed on a large white fence, “Martyrs of the Race Course.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 1, 1865, as reported both by The New York Tribune<\/em> and The Charleston Courier<\/em>, a group of 10,000 people staged a parade directly on this race track. As reported this crowd was mostly freed slaves, as well as some white missionaries. Three thousand African-American school children marched with flowers and songs. Members of the famous 54th Massachusetts and other Black Union Regiments participated. Ministers recited bible verses. Most of the story is unknown. What we do know is featured in David Blight’s book, Race and Reunion<\/a>, published in 2001. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memorial Day Becomes an Offical Holiday<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While the holiday started out in recognition of the end of the Civil War, it grew to include other conflicts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the holiday recognizes those lost in: <\/p>\n\n\n\n