The Freedom Center Honors Those That Have Served

From time to time we are given the opportunity to create pins for special events honoring military men and women as well as veterans.  Recently, we were able to help our customer celebrate the opening of The Freedom Center which is a permanent lounge dedicated to traveling members of our Armed Forces.  It opened inside the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Veterans Day, November 11, 2011.  The official grand opening celebration took place at 1100 hours on 11/11/11.  We helped honor members of the military by creating custom lapel pins honoring this momentous occasion. Temporary military lounges were set up by volunteers the past two holiday seasons.  The service was spearheaded by Delta Air Lines and TSA employees and assisted by military veterans.  Over 2,400 members of the military and their families used the lounge the 21 days it was open in December and January.  The need for a permanent facility was abundantly clear after this experience the last two years. "Freedom Center is dependent on the support of our whole community, whether it's a financial or in-kind donation or the dedicated efforts of our many volunteers," said Ken Pratt, president of Michigan Armed Forces Hospitality Center, Inc.  "It's one way we can all say 'Thank you for your service' to every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine who travels through DTW. Having custom lapel pins to hand out at the event was an added bonus.  The small pieces of memorabilia commemorated the moment and made everyone present feel welcomed and appreciated.  The type of souvenir that really makes an impression, custom pins are enjoyed and worn by people of all ages proving that they are the ultimate gift item to have on hand at grand openings and other special occasions.