Pictured during last year’s Purple Heart Day at Lakewood Tim Hortons from left is Cody Blaisdell, Jack Shea, Stephen Cybart, Justin Stewart and Sandi Ferringer. The Lakewood location of Tim Hortons is set to celebrate Purple Heart Day again this year on Aug 7. Submitted file photo

LAKEWOOD — The Lakewood location of Tim Hortons is welcoming all area Purple Heart Veterans out for a celebration on Aug 7, otherwise known as Purple Heart Day.

Located at 277 East Fairmount Avenue, this is the second year that Tim Hortons will be honoring Purple Heart Veterans on this day. Purple Heart Day is a day set aside to recognize the brave men and women who are recipients of the Purple Heart medal, which they receive through either being wounded in combat overseas or by passing away serving in the line of duty.

Jack Shea is the one who came up with the idea of celebrating this day at Tim Hortons last year while he was an intern, and is once again in charge this year. The Tim Hortons Purple Heart Day is set for Aug 7, beginning at 11 a.m.

“Purple Heart Day has only been a national holiday for 10 years making this a very young holiday,” Shea said. “That is what motivates me to do this ceremony again at our Tim Hortons location in Lakewood so we can continue to bring more awareness to the holiday. We are taking the opportunity of this national celebration to honor not only our Purple Heart Veterans but all of our veterans as well as active duty personnel.”

Shea added that the Purple Heart Day allows Americans to take a moment to thank and recognize those who put their lives on the line or lost their lives to protect and serve America. Additionally, he said that the first celebration last year went well, with a few kinks that they have been working on for this year.

“Last year’s celebration went well, however there were certainly some kinks that we had to work out, with one of the biggest factors being time,” Shea said. “A year ago today I still never even heard of the holiday myself. That is what makes us here at Tim Hortons extremely excited about this year’s ceremony. We have had more time to plan and reach out to military resources as well as the media so we can get the word out about this event so we see more Purple Heart Vets this year.”

Shea encouraged all local Purple Heart Veterans to come out to the event. All Purple Heart Veterans who attend will receive a free coffee and sandwich, and there is also a ceremony set for the beginning of the event.

“How can you go wrong?” Shea said. “We want the Purple Heart Vets to know that we strongly encourage them to go. We know that they may not want the recognition or anything special. That is completely fine, we will accommodate any request that they have. They do not have to stay for the ceremony if they don’t want to, if they just want a coffee and leave that is fine and completely up to them, however again we strongly encourage them to come and stay.”

Celebrating Purple Heart Day is something that Shea said is extremely important and that he hopes more people will come to recognize. It gives people the opportunity to thank not only Purple Heart Veterans, but all Veterans and active duty personnel.

“These men and women bring honor and pride to this great nation and I believe that we all need to appreciate that,” Shea said. “While holidays like Purple Heart Day, Veterans Day and Memorial Day are only for one day we need to recognize our vets for what they have done to protect our freedoms everyday, even if it is just a simple thank you for their service in public.”

Shea expressed his gratitude towards Blake Tarana and the rest of the Tim Hortons team for encouraging and trusting him with the event again this year. The Purple Heart Day ceremony will run from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., but Shea said the offer for free coffee and a free sandwich for Purple Heart Veterans runs all day.

“The offer will however run all day at our Lakewood location so if you can’t make the ceremony, that is perfectly fine,” Shea said. “The only thing is that we would like to politely ask for verification of the Purple Heart. Other than that, I can’t wait to see you all there.”