Exchange Club holds annual Flags of Freedom ceremony

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Jackson Exchange Club held their annual ‘Flags of Freedom’ ceremony, Tuesday afternoon.

“We do this for three reasons. One is for our military, for all who have served and are serving, for our first responders, and for the children who have died as a result of child abuse and neglect in the state of Tennessee,” said club president Jennifer Alford.

The group has hosted the ‘Flags of Freedom’ event, unveiling the display ahead of Memorial Day. This year’s guest speaker Lori Weir says the flags carry many meanings, but to her, they mean unity.

“Each of them represents a thread in the tapestry of our community in the way that people sacrificed to create what we so enjoy today,” Weir said.

More than 100 flags were displayed during the ceremony, each one of them representing a child lost to either child neglect or abuse.

“1,015 flags on display, 116 of those are actually for the children who have died as a result of child abuse and neglect, which is fairly sad,” Alford said.

There are hopes that the amount of children lost to abuse or neglect in the state does not rise.

“We’re always preparing for the next year,” Alford said. “Hopefully though our flags, the 116, will not be as many.”

The flags will remain on display until June 18.