Retired vets raising funds for deceased indigent comrades: ‘The mission still continues’

A newly-formed veterans group is raising money for a columbarium to be constructed at Riverdale Cemetery for the cremated remains of veterans.

Members of The Mission Continues Columbus Ga. showed up at a Columbus Council meeting Tuesday, seeking approval to accept cash donations for the construction, maintenance and operation of the columbarium, as well as urns for indigent comrades.

“Public Works has now designed a columbarium, to be constructed in Riverdale Cemetery, for the cremains of veterans,” according to information from the city. “This columbarium will be constructed with a combination of in-house labor and volunteer labor as well as some material from public works from operational supplies as well as materials donated for use at the columbarium.

Columbus Council approved the project with a unanimous vote and commended the veterans for their community involvement.

“What you guys don’t know, is that we’re newly formed here in Columbus, but we’re nationwide,” said Hai Clay, a retired Army captain, who founded the Columbus branch. “We are all military — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. We had a mission in the military. We’re out now, but the mission still continues, and it’s going to be here in our backyard. We’re here to be active in the city of Columbus.”

Stewart Williams, an Atlanta-based impact manager for The Mission Continues, said the organization is a national veterans organization that helps those transitioning out of the military find new missions at home. He said he would be working with the Columbus group to identify ways the group can partner with the city and other organizations to have impact. He said the Columbus platoon would be launched officially in October.

He said the organization also has a fellowship program, which provides veterans coming out of the military with a six-month fellowship working at a non-profit of their choice. The organization pays a six-month stipend at no cost to the nonprofit agencies or city government, he said, and local fellows already are working with the Boys and Girls Club, Damascus Way and other organizations. On Friday, members of The Mission Continues spent hours collecting items for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico.

“We operate currently in over 35 cities across the country,” he said. “We have been responding and responsive to many of the natural disasters that you’ve read about in our country, from Irma to Houston, Texas. Volunteers that are working with our organization have been working in various ways, and so we really just provide an outlet for our transitioning veterans who come out of the military and have a desire and duty to serve their country.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Retired vets raising funds for deceased indigent comrades: ‘The mission still continues’."