Folsom, CA (June 12, 2026) |
KFBK’s Kitty O’Neal interviewed members of SAFE Credit Union’s VALOR (Veterans and Loved Ones Resource) about their 3rd Annual U.S. Flag Collection Drive on her show “The Afternoon News with Kitty O’Neal.”
The drive provides designated drop-off bins – at SAFE’s 18 branches in the Sacramento area, SAFE’s headquarters in Folsom and the Aerospace Museum of California – where SAFE members and the public can bring old and damaged U.S. flags for proper retirement through Tuesday, June 30.
“The U.S. flag represents sacrifice, and service, and freedom," said SAFE Credit Union Deposits Operation Manager and Blue Star Mom Karen Thorson, whose son Trevor serves in the Navy as a hospital corpsman. "It represents the commitment that service members, including my son, make every day. And it also represents the families who support them.”
“So being part of this effort to make sure the U.S. flags are retired with dignity feels like a way to honor that sacrifice in a very personal and meaningful way,” she continued.
Read more about the story and listen to the broadcast on O’Neal’s website here.
Last year, VALOR collected more than 500 flags.
After the flags are collected, VALOR and SAFE employees will gather at the credit union’s headquarters to properly fold each flag before giving them to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 6604 in Folsom to arrange retirement ceremonies under the U.S. Flag Code.
“The first step is to fold the flags properly in the original official triangle shape where the flags’ blue star field is visible and then we package those flags and we turn them in to the Folsom Veteran Foreign Wars Post (6604),” explained SAFE Credit Union Vice President of IT Operations and VALOR’s Executive Sponsor Robert Paduano.
To interview SAFE Credit Union VALOR members Robert Paduano or Karen Thorson, contact SAFE’s Senior Communications and Public Relations Specialist Robyn Eifertsen by phone or text at (916) 809-7002 or at robyn.slagle-eifertsen@safecu.
