BISMARCK Yellow Ribbon vehicle license plates to show support of veterans now are available to the public.
Lonnie Wangen, North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs commissioner, presented Paul and Madeline Leuthold, of Lakota, with the first Yellow Ribbon Support Our Veterans vehicle license plates on May 22. Paul Leuthold is a retired Army veteran. The Leutholds provided a generous donation to get the Yellow Ribbon license plate project going.
Wangen worked with the Impact Foundation's Support Our Veterans Fund and the N.D. Department of Transportation to develop and have approved the Yellow Ribbon plates.
N.D. National Guard members and Iraqi war veterans Charles Votava, of Grand Forks, Kelly Johnson, of West Fargo, and Chuck Todd, of Northwood (now deployed in Kuwait), volunteered to help with the project. The N.D. Association of County Veteran's Service officers, during its spring 2010 association meeting, donated the remaining funding needed to complete the project.
"This is a great way to show support for your family members and friends in the service, Veterans in your community and across the state," said Wangen.
The Yellow Ribbon license plates can be ordered at local Motor Vehicle Departments when registering or paying vehicle registration fees. People can also find the plates online at the N.D. Department of Veterans Affairs' website at (www.nd.gov/veterans) or the N.D. Department of transportation's website at (www.dot.nd.gov/public/licensing.htm).
Cost of the Yellow Ribbon license plate is $25 per year.
Of the $25, $15 goes to the Impact Foundation's Support our Veterans Fund, a nonprofit fund which provides assistance to veterans and their qualified dependents with unique emergency needs for assistance when other means of assistance are not available or would not be able to assist in time sensitive matters.