St. Charles Resident Helps Organize Parade for Iraq War Vets

St. Louis knows how to throw a parade. The Cardinals helped the community prove that once the team's magical run to a World Series title came to fruition last fall. Now, a grassroots group is coming together to show the same can be done to honor returning Iraq war veterans.

What started as a dream a little more than a week ago now has a Facebook group page with more than 1,500 members. The group — led Craig Schneider, a St. Charles resident who works for the St. Charles School District and Tom Applebaum, a Creve Coeur area resident who is also a member of the Parkway School board — and needs to raise $25,000 by Friday at midnight if their goal of holding a "Welcome Home The Heroes From Iraq" parade downtown on January 28 can become a reality.

Schneider said the idea came as he and Applebaum were talking about the parade held in honor the Cardinal's after the team won the World Series. He thought it would be cool to do something similar to honor those who have served in Iraq.

Applebaum's wife, Ladonna, told Patch Wednesday that the organizers have approval from the City of St. Louis to move forward as far as parade logistics are concerned. The Friday night deadline was set by an unnamed veterans charity organization, which Ladonna Applebaum said told them "would bring in the big guns" to make the rest of it happen if they could show they were serious by raising the $25,000.

She said appointments with potential corporate sponsors were already scheduled for Thursday and that they are already a quarter of the way to their goal just since a KSDK-TV story on the effort aired Tuesday night.

Schneider said the group is 100 percent focused on raising the funds needed to show the veteran's group that they are serious.

Those people who are unable to donate financially are able to contribute by donating time next week to helping organize the parade and the veteran's resource village.

"The grassroots organization effort of this has been amazing to see," he said. "At this point, we're hoping businesses and corporations in the city can catch on."

If organizers cannot raise the money by the deadline, funds will be donated to the veterans charity organization.

For more information:

• Check out the event's Facebook page
• Email a pledge to iraqwelcomehome@gmail.com
• Fax a pledge to (314) 985-0637

Applebaum said donors do not need to provide credit card information when making a pledge.