Yellow ribbon license plate available to all N.D. residents

North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Lonnie Wangen presented Paul and Madeline Leuthold of Lakota, N.D., with the first “Yellow Ribbon — Support our Veterans” vehicle license plates in their home on May 22. These are the first patriotic plates to be produced in North Dakota for the general public to use. Military plates have been available to qualifying individuals but patriotic plates for North Dakota residents to show their support have not been offered before now.

In May 2010 the Leutholds provided a donation to get the yellow ribbon license plate project going. Paul Leuthold, a retired veteran of the U.S. Army, spoke with the Nelson County Veteran Service Officer Stacy Twete about the possibility of making a donation. Twete put Leuthold in contact with Wangen. Leuthold said he wanted to contribute to something that would help veterans for years to come and this project was it. Wangen worked with the Impact Foundation’s Support our Veterans Fund and the Norrth Dakota Department of Transportation to develop and have approved the yellow ribbon plates.

North Dakota 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 get this project up and running. The North Dakota Association of County Veteran Service officers donated the remaining funding needed to complete this 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,” Wangen said about the license plates. “… Displaying the Yellow Ribbon plate shows your support and proceeds from the plates go to help our returning veterans in need.”

The yellow ribbon license plates can be ordered at any local Motor Vehicle Department office when registering or paying your vehicle registration fees. The plates can also be found online at the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs website (www.nd.gov/veterans) or the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s website (http://www. dot.nd.gov/public/licensing.htm).The cost of the yellow ribbon license plate is $25 per year; $15 of this goes directly to the Impact Foundation’s Support our Veterans Fund.

The Impact Foundation’s Support our Veterans Fund is a non-profit 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. All donations received by the fund go directly to veterans and their qualified dependents. Contributions are not used for fees or other overhead costs to the fund.

Tags: community, license