{"id":46568,"date":"2013-12-06T13:13:05","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T21:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=46568"},"modified":"2019-02-07T13:57:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T21:57:48","slug":"single-airmen-get-taste-of-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/12\/06\/single-airmen-get-taste-of-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Single Airmen get taste of home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(L<\/a>
(L to R) Susan Weaver, Jennifer Henderson, and Sue Kovras sort through cookie donations for the annual Cookie Drop at the Airman and Family Readiness Center Dec. 4. The cookies were later picked up by unit first sergeants and delivered to single Airmen all over Edwards. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rebecca Amber.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EDWARDS AFB \u2013 The Airmen and Family Readiness Center teamed with the Edwards First Sergeants Council to bring unaccompanied Airmen living in the dorms, a “taste of home” for the holidays with their annual Cookie Drop. After two months of planning, volunteers from the Officers Spouses and Enlisted Spouses Clubs gathered at the AFRC to package cookies Dec. 4.<\/p>\n

\"Linda<\/a>
Linda Crump (right), receives a cookie donation from Master Sgt. James Pilkenton. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rebecca Amber)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Linda Crump, AFRC, Community Readiness consultant and Personal Financial Planning aide, estimates that around 2,000 cookies were donated this year.<\/p>\n

The Commissary supplied paper bags for packaging and the Child Development Center decorated the bags. The Teen Center joined in to help decorate the packing room for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Each Airman received a dozen home baked cookies donated by the community.<\/p>\n

“They are so ecstatic, they will eat the cookies until their stomachs hurt,” said Crump. “They are unaccompanied Airmen that probably won’t get a chance to go home. We want to make sure they get a taste of home.”<\/p>\n

Crump noted that the annual community effort to supply cookies started in 2003.<\/p>\n

\"Each<\/a>
Each paper bag filled with cookies was decorated by children at the Child Development Center. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rebecca Amber)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Master Sgt. Eric Jackson, 412th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, this is his second Cookie Drop as a member of the First Sergeants Council.<\/p>\n

“We have a lot of young Airmen here who won’t be going home for the holidays and this gives us an opportunity to give back to our young Airmen and thank them for their service,” said Jackson. “I think the little act of kindness and generosity goes a long way in anyone’s life.”<\/p>\n

Jackson recalled the days when he was an unaccompanied Airman living in the dorms. At that time he was on the receiving end of a cookie drop.<\/p>\n

“My first sergeant came by and spent a few minutes with me and provided that gesture. It really felt good like I was appreciated and not just-another-Airman. Instead, I was truly a person that was thought of and appreciated. It showed my worth in the organization was evident by my leadership coming out to spend a little time with me.”<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, first sergeants from around base picked up the cookies and delivered them to the barracks and single Airmen at work.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDWARDS AFB \u2013 The Airmen and Family Readiness Center teamed with the Edwards First Sergeants Council to bring unaccompanied Airmen living in the dorms, a “taste of home” for the holidays with their annual Cookie Drop. After two months of planning, volunteers from the Officers Spouses and Enlisted Spouses Clubs gathered at the AFRC to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":46570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1494],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}