A group that funds headstones for veterans' graves expects to clear up its backlog of 175 unmarked graves across the country by the end of the summer.

That number includes 50 graves in Nova Scotia, 47 in Manitoba and fewer than 20 each in other provinces.

The Last Post Fund, a non-profit corporation funded by Veterans Affairs Canada and private donations, provides headstones for veteran's graves that have been unmarked for more than five years.

The Last Post Fund provides gravestones for veterans when their families can't afford to.
The Last Post Fund provides gravestones for veterans when their families can't afford to.

Media reports on the backlog led to a flood of public donations to the Last Post Fund, as well as calls for the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide more money for the purpose.

The fund's executive director, Alexander Bialosh, says his group will now reallocate its existing federal funding of about $100,000, directing more dollars to deal with the larger backlogs in Nova Scotia and Manitoba.

"I cannot blame Veterans Affairs for anything," Bialosh said in an interview from Montreal, where the group is based.

"They really have no mandate to intervene in the administration of this program, but they do support the program financially. It's up to us to handle all these outstanding cases the best we can."

Bialosh said individual members of the Canadian Forces have come forward to donate money in the last week, as well as average citizens from across Canada and a Halifax-area school class that has offered to tackle a fundraising campaign to fund two tombstones.