Veterans Day flags went up in Herriman; the volunteer roster is what Friends of Herriman says it lacks

HERRIMAN — A small group of veterans raised flags outside Herriman City Hall on Wednesday, Veterans Day, at a ceremony a local nonprofit helped keep going 1. Penny Flake, of Friends of Herriman, told FOX 13 that the organization stepped in to maintain the tradition. "It makes them feel good," Flake said of the veterans taking part. "You watched them when they were putting those flags up. It really helped them" 1.

Jonny Larsen, a Marine combat veteran who also served in Iraq, told the station the day is a reminder of those who did not return. "I'm lucky to be here, and I'm always thinking of my brothers who didn't get to come home," he said 1. He described the difficulty of the return itself: "When you come home, it's not something that you can just leave behind, and we're always constantly reminded of it. It's easy to always feel alone when you don't know of resources that you can reach out to" 1.

Friends of Herriman is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 88-2427356, that describes itself as run by 100% volunteers, with a purpose stated as "to grow and establish meaningful programs and places in Herriman City," and a focus on parks, trails, arts and culture 2. Its volunteer page names four active pillars — parks, trails, an arts council and a culture alliance — and lists more than 1,200 volunteers, 38 annual events and roughly 30,000 volunteer hours a year 3.

According to FOX 13, the organization's work reaches beyond the holiday ceremony: it helps families with housing, utilities and food expenses, and connects veterans to health care, food banks and mental health support 1. The veterans work its own site documents is event-based: a Memorial Day food drive, run with the organization's culture alliance, collected shelf-stable food for veterans and families of fallen soldiers, using a list of needed items the VA supplied, with a collection box at City Hall from May 16 to May 26 and deliveries organized by volunteers on the holiday itself 4.

The constraint Flake described is labor. "I think that's the challenge: volunteers," she told FOX 13, adding that the organization hopes more volunteers will let it reach more veterans and families 1. The organization's own recruiting material is consistent with that. Its volunteer page advertises two open board positions — director of marketing and newsletter manager — alongside its description of itself as "100% volunteer driven," and it runs a volunteer club that meets monthly 3.

The organization's 2025 recap to the Herriman City Council covered its activities, its volunteer hours and the release of its Humans of Herriman book project; the same meeting record shows the council recognizing founding board chair Chris Berbert, whom that record identifies as a founding member and previous chair 5.

Public money reaches the organization through the city's community grant program. On April 8, 2026, the council approved $105,500 in grants on a 5–0 vote, including $90,500 to Friends of Herriman, $7,500 to the KMS Foundation and $7,500 to South Valley Performing Arts 6. The 2025 award of that same $90,500 was approved 4–0 and recorded as being for parks, arts, trails and culture projects 7.

The organization's federal filings give a sense of its scale. For the year ending December 2024, the Form 990 summary on ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer lists $176,129 in contributions, 65.4% of revenue, and $92,047 in program service revenue, 34.2%, with $0 in executive compensation and $275,687 in net assets 8.

State resources exist alongside the local ones. The Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs says accredited veteran service officers prepare, submit and appeal VA benefit claims free of charge, and it administers a $2,500 first-time homebuyer grant for eligible veterans and service members; its main line is 801-326-2372 9. FOX 13 directs readers who need resources or want to volunteer to Friends of Herriman 1, and the food drive page carries an email address for donations 4.

What neither account establishes is the size of the veterans caseload. Neither the station's report nor the organization's published materials said how many veterans it has assisted, or how much of its spending goes to veterans' services as distinct from parks, trails, arts and culture 12. The city's grant records describe the annual award by those four categories 7.

What happens next is recruitment. The organization is taking applications for the two board positions and for its monthly volunteer club, and its calendar lists a winter solstice lantern hike on Dec. 21, 2026 and a jazz Christmas concert 310. The Memorial Day food drive is the veterans event its site documents, and the flag raising is the Veterans Day one 14.