Runners and walkers can be a part of a fundraiser to support burials in the veteran’s section of a cemetery in Billings this Sunday before Veteran’s Day.
It is the third annual Patriot Run at Mountview Cemetery on Central Avenue, a 2K and 5K race for runners and walkers of all ages, sponsored by the cemetery and Billings Park and Recreation.
The veterans’ section of Mountview Cemetery is the final resting place for more than1,500 service men and women and roughly 25,000 buried at the cemetery in total.
The Department of Veterans Affairs provides the headstone and the city provides the grave but there are other expenses for the veteran’s family says Cemetery Supervisor Brandon Schmidt.
“Part of the proceeds from the race will go to help pay for the opening and closing and other costs associated with that service. The city will provide a grave for that veteran but the labor and some other things still need to be paid for,” explains Schmitt.
Those costs can runover $700.
A portion of the funds raised from this year’s race will also go towards annual flower planting and beautification efforts in the veterans’ section that has been damaged by three vehicle accidents along Central Avenue the past two years.
The 2K race begins at 12 noon and the 5K race at 1pm Sunday, Nov.9, there in the cemetery. Runners and walkers of all ages can register for the Patriot Run at billingsparks.org.
