Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. This Memorial Day, we invite you to celebrate soldiers by volunteering with the 5 easy volunteer opportunities!

1. Honor fallen heroes by volunteering at a veterans’ cemetery on Memorial Day or any time of year. Volunteers can give cemetery tours, help with maintenance, raise and lower flags and more. Use the National Cemetery Administration website to find a volunteer opportunity near you.
2. Volunteer to help The National Memorial Day Parade: If you will be in Washington, DC on Memorial Day 2012, you have the unique opportunity to be part of the parade of the year! It takes hundreds and hundreds of willing hands and feet to make this large parade a success. We are looking for many volunteers to help in the assembly area, along the parade route, and in the parade’s dispersal area near the White House. Each volunteer will get a special Parade T-shirt and (most importantly) a chance to meet and thank personally those who have served, and sacrificed, to keep our country free!
3. Volunteers needed to distribute roses for Memorial Day! A group of volunteers is working to bring floral beauty to the graves at this Memorial Day. This Monday, May 28, more than 100 volunteers from Memorial Day Flowers will hand out more than 50,000 roses at the cemetery. Visitors are given two roses, one to place on a grave, and one to take home in remembrance. All of the flowers are donated by farmers throughout Ecuador. The idea was initiated by Ramiro Peñaherrera of Flowers for Kids. He’s part Ecuadorean and has family members buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Being that Ecuador is one of the largest rose producers in the world, he set out to get farmers there to donate roses for the cause.
4. Honor Veterans by planting flags! Recently, over 200 volunteers spent Wednesday planting flags for Memorial Day on the grounds of Boston Common in downtown Boston in honor of those who served and died for our country.  The 33,000 flags represent all of the fallen soldiers from Massachusetts who have died since the civil war.
5. Reflect on the service of Veteran’s: Simply celebrate Veteran’s Day with your family by reflecting on the service that Veteran’s have contributed to America. Propose such topics as, “Where would America be without the help of our veterans?” or “How has a veteran individually impacted your life?” Or if you are so fortunate to have a veteran in your life, celebrate, honor, and thank him for his tremendous bravery and service.

Whether you’re volunteering with your local veterans’ parade or simply reflecting on veterans’ service, we hope that you have a fantastic Memorial Day! Tell us how do you plan on  commemorating veterans this Memorial Day in the COMMENTS!