It’s not uncommon to find old license plates displayed on the wall in someone’s garage or man cave. Sometimes they are even crafted into other unique items or art pieces. But for the past 14 years, county clerks across the state have been affiliated with a program called HAVE — Help A Veteran Every day.
The 120 county clerks support Kentucky veterans in a variety of ways, by collecting $5 from each renewal of a veteran’s license plate, collecting $10 from each purchase and renewal of an “I Support Veterans” license plate, collecting donations to Help a Veteran Every day and for license plate birdhouses to benefit the four Kentucky veterans centers.
The license plate birdhouse program to benefit Hope For Veterans was established in 2008 by Winston Meade, county clerk of Letcher County, and his father-in-law Arnold Lee Watson.
“I was at a clerk’s association meeting and they were raising money for the veterans,” said Meade. “I bought a birdhouse and took it to the house and said he could do something with it.”
Meade said Watson took it to the woodshop and took it apart and then created a product that the clerk’s office was able to offer for donations.
“The first year we raised in the teens,” Meade said. “What we made, we’d spend on the veterans home in Eastern Kentucky.”
According to Meade, his father-in-law passed away in 2014 while he was making birdhouses. Meade said Watson worked six days a week like it was a job and wouldn’t charge a dime. Aside from taking the cost of wood and paint out of the donations, every other penny went to the veterans.
“I’m not a veteran,” Meade said. “But, with this job I’ve got, it’s my way of trying to say thank you.”
Meade said, in 2016, the clerk’s veteran organization was able to donate $25,000 to each of the veterans centers, with $20,000 in 2017 and $19,000 in 2018 to each of the four current centers. Those four centers are located in Hanson, Lexington, Radcliffe and Eastern Kentucky near Hazard.
“Between the birdhouses and auctions we [county clerks of Kentucky] raise over $100,000 every year,” said Richard House, chief deputy of the Daviess County Clerk’s Office. “We have no administrative costs — just help in building birdhouses.”
House said the money raised does not only go straight to veteran’s needs, but also to their wants. He said in the past they have been able to provide medical recliners, computers, televisions, an ice cream maker and items to make the veteran’s lives a little more comfortable.
“One year they went out to eat dinner at Red Lobster,” House said. “It’s great to see the veterans and how appreciative they are.”
House said all of the clerks in the state ship their special plates to the Eastern Kentucky office and bring them to meetings so that they can be designed around birdhouses. Each birdhouse requires one license plate, and House said they can even be customized.
“So, if anyone has a plate that they want made into a birdhouse, that can be done,” House said. “They are $20 a piece and it all goes to the veterans organization.”
To donate toward a license plate birdhouse, visit the Daviess County Clerk’s Office at 212 Saint Ann St.
