Pooling together their personal money, six members of the Cayuga County Veterans Memorial Committee successfully applied for and received public charity status for their committee through the Internal Revenue Service.

The committee, which officially formed in 2006, has been erecting memorials in the city since 1997. The group has built a Women's Veterans Memorial in Emerson Park and erected both World War I and World War II memorials near the Cayuga County Office Building. Prior to Jan. 1, the group was never considered a public charity so members were unable to collect donations from large corporations.

“This gives us the opportunity to be a charity with some perpetuity to it,” said Nick Valenti, director of the Cayuga County Veterans Service Agency.

In January, the $750 application was authorized by the IRS, granting them public charity status, exempt from federal income tax.

The six-member committee wants to build a halfway home for veterans coming out of hospitals or who need overnight housing.