Veterans group donates $5,000 for College of Lake County memorial
A $5,000 donation was presented Tuesday to help with expenses for a veterans memorial at College of Lake County's flagship campus in Grayslake.
Allan Ayers, of Veterans Assistance Commission of Lake County, said he handed over the grant on behalf of a local chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars. The order's mission includes supporting memorials, monuments and patriotic education.
CLC President Jerry Weber and other officials attended a ceremony to accept the donation from the military group.
"They're trying to continue the (memorial) funding," Ayers said.
CLC's memorial at Willow Lake includes the seals of all five military branches, three illuminated flagpoles, engraved bricks and an engraved granite marker that was added in 2010, two years after construction started. Plans call for the addition of a life-size bronze sculpture depicting a soldier paying respects at the grave of a fallen hero.
Wayne J. Maczko, an Army veteran who's a heating, ventilation and air conditioning mechanic in the CLC facilities department, was the force behind building the monument in 2006.
Maczko has worked with other employees and the CLC Foundation on the monument's design and fundraising. The $5,000 contribution Tuesday was a continuation of the fundraising process.