Donations from community members and organizations have been helping offset the cost of bringing the Vietnam memorial Moving Wall to the Palmerton Borough Park starting Thursday.

Monday night, the Palmerton United Veterans Organization got its largest financial assistance to date when the Palmerton Swim Team donated $2,700 it raised toward the cause.The check was presented to four members of the UVO; Vic Jahelka, Harry Brown, Joe Uhnak and Bill Gallagher, before the swim team's final meet of the season."The kids really got into the fundraiser," said Julia Dougherty, swim team coach. "The community is really supporting the wall coming here and it was really encouraging to me to see how much the kids cared about helping out."A half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., the wall has been touring the country for over 30 years.It comes complete with more than 58,000 names of those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War."We're very grateful for the support," Uhnak said. "This is a great project and we're happy everyone donated what they could to help out."Uhnak said the costs involve setting up a foundation for the wall, putting up tents, installing portable lights and advertising materials.They also sold souvenir T-shirts to raise funds."The foundation was set up the other day and tomorrow we're getting in some mulch," he said. "They'll be some flowers and plants around there. We really want this to look nice."The swim team hosted a competition to see who could swim the most laps. The top swimmer in each age group received an award Monday and was part of the check presentation.The winners included Cameron Gowin (6 years old and under), Kyan Block (7-8), Tyla Block (9-10), Julia Blose (11-12), Caitlene Santos (13-14), Mac Allen (15-19), Brandon Mazepa (20-29), and Kerri Jahelka (30-39).Blose swam the most laps with 202."This is a cause that really resonates with the community and the team," Dougherty said. "We have a coach who is a Navy veteran, we have a veteran on our board and this means a lot to us.The wall will be accessible to the public 24 hours per day. The UVO is organizing a schedule of volunteers to work three-hour shifts.An opening ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday."This is going to be a great way for the people who don't get to Washington, D.C., or can't get there to see this wall up close," Uhnak said. "It's something we'll remember for a long time."