Southern Illinois Made has announced a new charity for the 2021 Southern Illinois Made Expo.
Senator Dale Fowler and the Southern Illinois Chambers of Commerce announced that this year, proceeds from the expo will be donated to Operation Honor Guard. Southern Illinois Honor Flight, which has previously been the charity recipient for the expo, will still be partnering with Southern Illinois Made to provide volunteers for the event.
Fowler said the decision to donate to Honor Guard was made with the support of Honor Flight, which already has funding for their next two flights.
"With the next two flights being pre-paid for with Honor Flight, after meeting with Honor Flight we all agreed that Honor Guard could really use some assistance because they've just, financially they've been really struggling," he said.
Operation Honor Guard raises money for service organizations that provide military funerals for fallen veterans. The organization will split the donations between honor guards in 20 southern Illinois communities.
"Some of the veterans that perform these memorial services at the funeral, you know they have to pay for the uniforms out of their own pocket, but the supplies, and things, so we just don't think that's right," Fowler said.
