MISSION – In a Rio Grande Valley city, Christmas preparations are already underway with the help of hundreds of veterans.

From 2006 when it first opened, the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery has grown from 11 soldier’s gravesites to more than 2,000.

Every holiday season, veterans come together to partake in Wreaths Across America, a project in which they raise money, assemble and place wreaths on each soldier’s grave.

The public is invited to attend and help this Saturday, Nov. 24. Starting at 11 a.m.