We are participating in Give for Good Louisville again this year, September 13th! The online day of giving has been a great fundraiser for us, but this year we are changing it a little. We have decided to give each of our amazing donors a free gift for their donation this year. Without your help, we would not be able to preserve and maintain Eastern Cemetery. That’s why we want to show our gratitude!

For donors of $50 or less, you will receive an invitation to tour Eastern Cemetery with our fantastic tour guide Joel Berndt on Saturday, November 10th.

For donors of $51-$199,  you will receive the same tour invitation as well as a Friends of Eastern Cemetery supporter shirt.

For donors of $200 or more, you will receive the supporter shirt and a private tour of Eastern Cemetery (to be scheduled) for as many guests as you’d like.

We are so grateful for our amazing supporters! To donate, please click here. You will have 24 hours to make your donation, and all giving will end at 11:59PM on September 13th.

If you cannot donate, you can still help! We need your help to make our campaign a success, and we’ve included a few easy ways that you can support us.

Share and share alike. Online days of giving are successful because of our own networks. Help us grow our network by sending an email or a text about us to your network and ask your friends to do the same.

Be socially (media) active. Use your social media networks: post on Facebook, tweet about Give For Good Louisville, and share your love for Eastern Cemetery. Ask others to do the same.

We have added all of our upcoming Fall Volunteer Days to the calendar. We have also created Facebook events for each date. Please check them out and consider joining us! Volunteers are the core of our organization and we could not do any of this without you!

All of our upcoming July Volunteer Days have been added to the calendar. We have also created Facebook events for each date. Please check them out and consider joining us! Volunteers are the core of our organization and we could not do any of this without you!

On Sunday, April 8th, the Friends of Eastern Cemetery hosted a dedication for the historical marker in front of Eastern Cemetery. The Kentucky Historic Society administers the Kentucky Historical Marker Program in cooperation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. There are over 2,400 historical markers across the commonwealth that tell Kentucky’s story through places, people, and events. The Friends of Eastern Cemetery applied for a historical maker to tell the history of Eastern Cemetery and recognize some of the people buried there. The Friends of Eastern Cemetery are thrilled to be Kentucky Historical Highway Marker #2532!

The Gov. Isaac Shelby Chapter of the Kentucky Society of the Sons of the American Revolution led the Pledge of Allegiance for the dedication ceremony. Dr. Andrew Patrick, Community Engagement Coordinator at the Kentucky Historical Society; S. Brandon Coan, Louisville Metro District 8 Councilman; and Andy Harpole, President of the Friends of Eastern Cemetery, spoke at the ceremony.

It’s that time of year again for Mayor Greg Fischer’s Mayor’s Week of Service! The volunteer days are April 14-22, 2018. Mayor Fischer says, “Whether you give an hour, a day, donate blood, give food, clothing or simply help a neighbor, everyone can do something!”

Our first volunteer day of the 2018 season will be Sunday, April 15th from 10am-4pm. You can set your own hours within this time frame if you would like to join us. We will also have a volunteer day the following Sunday, April 22nd from 10am-4pm.

We would love for you to join us for an exciting volunteer day at Eastern Cemetery. You will spend the day learning about the rich history of Eastern Cemetery and its residents; working in a serene, beautiful environment; mowing grass; weed eating; and cleaning headstones. We might even have the opportunity to reset some of the veteran headstones that have been reclaimed by the earth over time. We recommend that you bring gloves and wear sturdy, closed toed shoes. We will provide all other supplies.

For more information on the Sunday, April 15th Volunteer Day, please click here.

For more information on the Sunday, April 22nd Volunteer Day, please click here.

 

Have you seen these historical markers throughout Kentucky? Did you know that you apply for a marker through the Kentucky Historical Society? We did that and were approved for a marker to be placed in front of Eastern Cemetery on Baxter Avenue! We are excited to be Kentucky Historical Highway Marker #2532! One side of the historical marker will tell a brief history of the cemetery and the other side will highlight some of the people buried within. We hope that the marker will encourage more awareness of Eastern Cemetery, which could lead to more participation from the community.

On Sunday, April 8, at Eastern Cemetery (641 Baxter Avenue) the Friends of Eastern Cemetery will host a Historical Marker Dedication Ceremony at 12pm EST. Dr. Andrew Patrick, Community Engagement Coordinator at the Kentucky Historical Society; S. Brandon Coan, Louisville Metro District 8 Councilman; and Andy Harpole, President of the Friends of EasternCemetery, will speak at the ceremony. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by the Gov. Isaac Shelby Chapter of the Kentucky Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. The Friends of Eastern Cemetery volunteers will offer tours of the cemetery following the ceremony.

Please come and celebrate with us! For more information on the event, please see our Facebook event page or email us at info@friendsofeasterncemetery.com.

December 16, 2017, at 12PM, the Friends of Eastern Cemetery will be hosting Wreaths Across America Day at Eastern Cemetery, 641 Baxter Avenue.

Wreaths Across America’s mission is to Remember, Honor and Teach. Each December on National Wreaths Across America day, the mission is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as over 1,200 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad. This is the second year that Eastern Cemetery will be participating in this beautiful ceremony. A person dies twice: once when they take their final breath and later, the last time their name is spoken. Wreaths Across America encourages every volunteer who places a wreath on a Veteran’s grave to say the Veteran’s name aloud and take a moment to thank them for their service to our country. It is a small act that goes a long way toward keeping the memory of our Veterans alive.

Please consider donating to help us place wreaths on all 1,000 veterans at Eastern Cemetery. The last day to donate is Friday, December 1, 2017.

A HUGE Thank You to everyone who helped make Give For Good possible yesterday! We appreciate all of your support!

Give For Good Louisville is TODAY, and we are asking you to join us in our efforts to make this the most awesome day of giving the nation has ever seen!

We are writing to ask you to take five minutes to give to the Friends of Eastern Cemetery. Your donation of any amount will help us preserve one of Louisville’s oldest cemeteries.

Here’s how you can make a HUGE difference today:

• Make a donation.
• Spread the word. Text a friend. Forward this email. Post on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #GiveForGoodLou. Oh, and you can also just tell someone in person – that works, too.

We’re counting down the days to September 14th and Give For Good Louisville. We need your help to make our campaign a success, and we’ve included a few easy ways that you can support us.

Share and share alike. Online days of giving are successful because of our own networks. Help us grow our network by sending this email to your network and ask your friends to do the same.

Be socially (media) active. Use your social media networks: post on Facebook, tweet about the Give For Good Louisville, and share your love for your particular passion, whether it’s cemeteries, education, health care, animals, or the arts. Ask others to do the same.

Become a fundraising champion. Everyone loves a champion, including us! We really need fundraising champions to help drive people to our Give For Good Louisville profile on September 14th. Contact us for more information on how to become a fundraising champion!

Thank you in advance for support!

Have you dreamed of making history? Of course, we all have. And now we have a chance to be a part of Louisville’s day of giving – an opportunity to unite our community around causes in which we truly believe and help nonprofit organizations connect to the larger community.

We need your help! Please join our campaign and help us reach of our goal of $6,000 and 300 donors! We need you to tell your friends and family members about the important work we do and ask them to join us in helping to make a difference. We will be posting on our Facebook page and Twitter profile. Please share those posts.

Get ready to give! On September 14th, starting at 12AM on September 14, visit www.giveforgoodlouisville.org and make a donation to us and/or to any of the great participating nonprofit organizations in our state. You will have 24 hours to make your donation, and all giving will end at 11:59PM on September 14.

Questions? If you have any questions or would like more information, let us know. Thank you in advance for your generosity to our organization!

We are happy to announce that our website has received a much needed makeover! There are still some parts under construction, but the main features are intact. We are also featuring a new history section with photos of gravestones and bios to go along with them. Some of these have been written by family members and are posted on our Facebook page. Please check out our updated website and let us know what you think!

We are so excited to announce that we will be teaming up with Northeast Christian Church as part of their “Love the ‘Ville” service initiative! Saturday, May 23 will be a massive clean up day from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. We need our volunteers to help work and organize the many NECC volunteers. Then Sunday we will celebrate Memorial Day with a meet and greet from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, a short service with NECC at 1:00 pm, and grave flagging at 1:30 pm. We need our volunteers to help meet with the families who attend and to help flag the veterans’ graves.

The main driveway off Baxter Avenue will be one-way traffic only this weekend. You can drive in from Baxter Avenue and exit out the gate at Payne Street next to the columbarium. Cars can be parked at Breckinridge Franklin Elementary (1351 Payne Street). We will have restroom facilities on site as well as drinks and snacks.

Please RSVP for Saturday (https://www.facebook.com/events/1421124588208366/) and/or Sunday (https://www.facebook.com/events/1588188358121864/).

We’ve all heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday but did you know about Giving Tuesday? It is a global day of giving back to non-profits in your community. It falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year. Please think about supporting the Friends of Eastern Cemetery this year. Just click on the “Make A Donation” tab at the top of our website.

The Friends of Eastern Cemetery is a volunteer driven group dedicated to the restoration and resurrection of Eastern Cemetery. FOEC is a community of people from different walks of life who have come together with one common goal and that is to help the families of those buried at Eastern Cemetery by bringing back the long overdue respect it so desperately deserves.

We are very happy to announce that we have two upcoming fundraisers!

The first event is the Arts & Crafts Festival at the Shops of Forest Springs on Sunday, September 14 from 10am to 5pm. While cleaning the cemetery we found large amounts of grape vine. Our volunteers have made these vines into wreaths and decorated them for the fall! Please stop by the festival to check out our crafts. All proceeds go to Eastern Cemetery.

The second event is the Friends of Eastern Cemetery Comedy Caravan Benefit Night on Wednesday, November 12 at 7pm. Join us for a fun filled night full of and limitless laughs, door prizes, a silent auction and great food and drinks! This is an excellent opportunity to have a night out on the town and support the Friends of Eastern Cemetery! All proceeds go towards preserving Eastern Cemetery. Please stay tuned for ticketing information.