Meet the Friends of the National WWII Memorial

Did you know Hill Center has a office suite on the third floor featuring nine non-profit organizations (which solves the age-old mystery – what is on the third floor)? As a non-profit organization ourselves, it’s always been vital for us to provide support for the good works other non-profits. That’s part of the reason we organize Volunteer Capitol Hill every year – but that’s a different blog post all together!

We’d like to share some of the incredible efforts that are taking place upstairs, so we’re going to start by sharing the story of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial. One of our first tenants, the Friends continue to incredible work to honor the “Greatest Generation.”

Meet the Friends of the National World War II Memorial

by Holly Rotondi, Executive Director

Founded in 2007, the Friends of the National World War II Memorial (Friends) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving the national memory of World War II and to creating the next “Greatest Generation” of tomorrow.

To meet this mission, Friends sponsors an annual public lecture series featuring prominent historians; hosts an annual teachers conference in Washington, DC; and collects and archives video interviews of World War II veterans and other members of the Greatest Generation. Additionally, Friends has the lead responsibility in planning and staging five or more major national commemorative events annually and each summer sponsors a dozen free public performances of military bands at the Memorial.

Last year, Friends kicked off an ambitious four-year World War II 75^th Anniversary Commemoration. From December 7, 2016 to September 2, 2020, Friends will host more than 60 ceremonies, commemorating battles and other special events to honor the heroic men and women of the Greatest Generation. Of the more than 16 million Americans who served during World War II, less than 600,000 are still with us today.

Friends’ is honored to have the endorsements of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, Senator Bob Dole, Tom Brokaw, Tom Hanks, FedEx Chairman and CEO Fred Smith, Washington Redskins President Bruce Allen, Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Marv Levy, and many others.

To find out how you can take part, please visit the Friends of the National World War II Memorial website at www.wwiimemorialfriends.org and see our schedule of events!