United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN) is proud to announce its free summer lunch program, Meet Up and Chow Down, will be available to Cook-area children starting July 25^th.

Free Meet Up and Chow Down lunches will be available to all children ages 0-18 from 12 pm to 1 pm Monday through Thursday at the Cook Public Library, rain or shine.

Starting July 18^th, United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN) will be distributing its new “Summer Buddy Backpacks” in even more communities across the Iron Range.

 Organizers say more than 7,000 individuals participated in United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s week-long tribute to local Vietnam veterans.

To date, 126 local Vietnam veterans have been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s In Memory program.

United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)'s United for Veterans committee has been working diligently to add even more local names, and organizers expect the number to increase by the time The Wall That Heals arrives to Chisholm this June.

The program, which honors Vietnam veterans who returned home from Vietnam and have since passed away, will present digital images of local honorees at the Mobile Education Center while The Wall That Heals is in Chisholm.

Every veteran’s story is unique. Any local veteran you speak with will be the first to tell you they do not – and cannot – speak on behalf of all veterans.

However, for the local Vietnam veterans steering United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s United for Veterans committee in planning for the arrival of The Wall That Heals on the Iron Range, common sentiments have been shared – a reverence both for The Wall That Heals and the lives lost to the Vietnam War.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the founders of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is bringing its ¾ traveling replica of the national monument to the Iron Range next week.

The Fabulous Armadillos’ live music experience, “What’s Going On? Songs from the Vietnam Era,” routinely sells out venues across the Midwest.

Koochiching County officials, residents, and volunteers are nearing their fourth week straight of filling sandbags at Kerry Park in International Falls and placing them at homes of the homes of the most vulnerable citizens in the International Falls/Kabetogama area.

Hibbing Community College Professor Steve Potts has been teaching about the Vietnam War for 40 years and says given the war’s divisiveness it has yet to be fully taught in schools since the war ended in 1975.

Thanks to the support of an anonymous donor, United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN)’s Buddy Backpacks program will be available to the Iron Range throughout the summer – with a twist.