Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert Campus has established a new program to assist its students and the local community with disposing of their faded or ripped American flag and replacing it with a new one. 

The campus’ Veterans Success Center will be a year-round collection hub for gathering old U.S. flags that need to be put out of service. The weathered flags collected will be taken to the Veterans of Foreign Wars for proper disposal. Regardless of their condition, American flags should never be thrown in the trash. 

Jack P. Macfarlane, U.S. Navy veteran and director of campus operations, will donate 10 embroidered flags for the program each June. While supplies last, the Veterans Success Center will exchange old flags with new 3-foot by 5-foot flags before the summer break in June of each year. To qualify for the exchange, participants must bring an old U.S. flag of similar size. 

“Perhaps more than anyone else, veterans feel that torn and faded American flags are especially saddening,” Macfarlane said. “Although the goal of replacing all of the damaged flags in the Coachella Valley is highly optimistic, the Veterans Success Center at CSUSB Palm Desert Campus is taking a small step toward achieving it.” 

Donations of new 3-foot by 5-foot flags are welcome in order to increase the capacity of the program. 

For more information about the program, contact the campus’ Veterans Success Center at 760-341-2883, ext. 78129.

Located in beautiful Palm Desert, the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, a doctorate in educational leadership, and teacher credentials and certificates. With more than 1,400 students, it is the Coachella Valley’s four-year public university and plays a vital role in educating and training the region’s growing population.

For more information about the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, contact Mike Singer in the campus’ Office of Public Affairs at msinger@csusb.edu or (760) 341-2883, ext. 78107, or visit the campus website at pdc.csusb.edu.