The Eastern Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky has many friends including Andy Harpole and all of the dedicated group of volunteers who have donated hours of their time to its needed care.
Please take a moment to vote for Andy, and the volunteers. Your vote helps them continue with their work.
From Andy Harpole:
"We are rounding the home stretch folks and we really need your daily votes (you can vote every 24 hours from each device)!! The initial voting ends on January 6th at midnight, first place is $50,000 and the next five runners up receive $5000, if we win 100% of the money goes toward the restoration of Eastern Cemetery.
PLEASE VOTE AND SPREAD THE
WORD!!!
It takes 10 seconds and you don't have to sign up for
anything, simply click on the link and hit the "vote for this story"
link. VOTE HARD!!"
Please click HERE and then click the vote button.
“Andy has dedicated hundreds of hours, thousands of dollars, and his own personal equipment to clean up Louisville's largest abandoned cemetery.”
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"Eastern Cemetery is a 30 acre tract of land in the
heart of the Highlands that has been abandoned for more than 20 years.
In the late 1980's the company that cared for this cemetery dissolved
and left no one to care for it. Over time the land was desecrated by
vandals, used as a dumping site, and left to overgrow and decay with
every passing season. Families would no longer visit the the graves of
their loved ones because of its depressing views and the heart-wrenching
depression that only added to the existing mourning of those were left
behind to grieve.
This all changed early last year. Andy Harpole couldn't stand the
site of this once-hallowed ground. With the city and state refusing to
care for it, Andy began to visit the cemetery every weekend and brought
with him his own equipment, gas, and stalwart work ethic. After only a
few months Andy was able to convince a handful of other people to join
him. Over time the group, now known as "Friends of Eastern Cemetery,"
has grown and number over 30 strong. Every Sunday, from 11am to 4pm
Andy and all the volunteers work at Eastern Cemetery to restore,
preserve and protect this once-forgotten cemetery. The grass gets cut,
dead trees are hauled out, graffiti and spray paint has been removed,
and the buildings now sport a brand new coat of paint. It actually
looks like a cemetery again.
Andy was able to arrange, through a private donation, over 1,000
American flags. This past Memorial day families of all walks of life
came out to decorate graves of all the soldiers, sailors, and marines
that rest in Eastern. Families have started to return and the cemetery
is starting to have a sense of grace once more.
Andy has poured his heart out, along with his own equipment and
thousands of dollars of his personal earnings, to restore Eastern and
has never asked for anything in return. For this, and all of his
efforts, Andy is admired by not only the families of those who have
relatives in Eastern, but by his fellow volunteers as well."
