Operation Homefront presents early Thanksgiving gift for Team Edwards military families

  • Published
  • By Jet Fabara
  • 412th Test Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  November is commonly associated with a month of being thankful and showing one's gratitude, so for active duty servicemembers and their families at Edwards, Operation Homefront-California showed their appreciation for our military members by donating more than 200 gift bags with the help of the First Sergeants Association and Lockheed Martin Nov. 7 at the Base Theater.

"Today is our Thanks for Giving event; our major sponsor is Lockheed Martin who donated the funds to purchase the items that are being distributed and we are also working with the First Sergeants Association who nominated the families to come participate and receive the items that we are giving out today," said Tricia De La Paz, Operation Homefront Director of Programs for the California field office.

According to the Operation Homefront website, the nonprofit organization provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of servicemembers and wounded warriors.

"This is just an extension of the support that we give military families. The reason for the meal, the board game and the movie within the gift bag, is because Thanksgiving is such an important time for families to be together, whether the servicemember is home or deployed, and these items sort of allow that family night or family time," added De La Paz.
This event marked the third year Operation Homefront has hosted something like this for the Edwards community.

"It's a wonderful thing to be able to work with the families at Edwards and all over the country, but especially at Thanksgiving. We're all thankful for various things and this is just one way to give back and interact with the families one on one," said De La Paz.

During the course of the event, each nominated military family received a bag of non-perishables, two gift cards, which included a gift card to the commissary, one movie and one game board.

To volunteer with Operation Homefront or find out more information, go to http://www.operationhomefront.net.