Donations are still needed for next month's trip to the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. for Bedford County's World War II veterans.

According to Robert Daniel, who is heading up the project, March 25 is the cutoff date for veterans to register and donations are still arriving.

However, Daniel said that some donors are holding off sending money until they know how many veterans will be going on the trip.

"People want to donate, but they don't know how much," Daniel said. But even after the cutoff date, he said, organizers will still accept donations.

So far, nearly $5,000 has been raised and around a dozen veterans are slated to make the trip. The veterans' spouses will also be included in the trip. The veterans will visit several other landmarks in the nation's capital as well.

Donations will pay for rooms, travel and expenses so that the trip does not cost the veterans anything, Daniel said.

Last November, both of Shelbyville's Rotary Clubs kicked off the fund raising with a donation of $1,000.

The plans were to send about 80 people from Bedford County, but those plans have been scaled back considerably.

Daniel said the current plan is to make the trip in the middle of April, if there are enough funds available. However, if there isn't enough money, then more fundraising will take place.

Dr. David McCoy, a physician from Franklin, has volunteered to make the trip and assist any of the veterans who have medical issues.

The effort was started by the Rotary Club of Shelbyville (noon) and, along with Daniel, assistance for the project is being provided by Mike Cavender and Barbara Blanton.

The Rotary Club also is requesting the names of World War II veterans and family members wishing to make the trip.

Donations for the project may be taken to Gordon Warren at the Veterans Service Office at the Bedford County Courthouse.

The World War II Memorial opened in the spring of 2004 and is located in the nation's capital on 17th Street between Constitution and Independence Avenues, flanked by the Washington Monument to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west.

Open 24 hours a day, the memorial is operated by the National Park Service and honors the 16 million men and women who served their country, the 450,000 that fell and all who supported the war effort at home.

Today, veterans of that war are dying at a rate of over 1,000 per day, meaning that many of the men and women the memorial honors will have no opportunity to see it.

Daniel said that the trip "is for the whole community."