The Pennsylvania Veterans Memorial is nestled in the hills on the east side of the state. 

“So the memorial looks like a bombed out church,” said Brian Natali, outreach director for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veteran Affairs. "It looks like an old European cathedral."

Tall stone walls keep watch over the graves at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. It’s the largest veterans memorial in all 155 national cemeteries; the grounds span around 3.5 acres.

“It has 36 trees and five fountains in the floor of it, and it's to replicate a building being reclaimed by the earth,” Natali said.

The state is responsible for the maintenance and grounds work of the structure—and relies entirely on donations for the regular upkeep.

“We need donations,” Natali said, when asked if funds were running low. "There's money in it now. We should be able to make it through the year. I have some big projects now that we need donations to be able to do... the fountains need some repairs and we need some more money to be able to afford that.”

Anyone can visit donate.dmva.pa.gov to give to The Pennsylvania Veterans Memorial Trust Fund—or to other causes on the website.

For example, there are resident welfare funds for the six veteran’s residence homes in the state. Donations to these funds let veterans get out for a baseball game or other special event activities.

The military family relief assistance fund gives up to $3,500 to guard and reserve troops whose family goes through a crisis while serving.

“Up in Erie with all that snow! If anyone had four feet of snowfall, and damage to their house from how heavy it was while they were deployed,” Natali said. “This fund could help cover some of that."

The Veteran’s Trust Fund is the most wide-spanning fund. It helps meet personal needs, but also gives to verified non profits who care for veterans in communities. These organizations can help with anything from filling out paper work to making job and housing connections. Access to mental health services is also critical.

“People need a place to keep their head out of the rain, a job to earn money and put food on the table in front of them,” Natali said. “Meeting those needs tie into mental health."

Beyond money, Natali says anyone can give time. To pause, to remember. To rest. Something that the Pennsylvania Veteran’s Memorial gives to residents in the area.

“When you see families there and they're visiting their graves and they come over and they tell you stories about their family member-” Natali said, “-that makes me feel honored that somebody wants to share their stories with me.”