Operation Homefront says 'Thanks for Giving'

  • Published
  • By Rebecca Amber
  • Staff writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Operation Homefront and Lockheed Martin have made it clear that they are thankful for our Airmen. Volunteers from Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, California, were joined by the Edwards AFB First Sergeants Association in handing out Thanksgiving meals and entertainment Nov. 6, at the Airman and Family Readiness Center.

At this year's "Thanks for Giving" event, 250 Airmen received a bag of food, a board game, a children's DVD and a $25 gift card to the Commissary.

"The bags are chock full of holiday food and it spans from stuffing, canned gravy, cranberry sauce, vegetables - everything you need to cook a holiday meal minus the turkey," said Master Sgt. Laura Magas, Edwards AFB First Sergeants Council president.

While Operation Homefront, based out of San Diego, facilitated the event, Lockheed made it possible with a grant that covered the associated costs. Magas has been in the Air Force for 14 years.

"When I first enlisted, this kind of program, maybe it was a base affiliated thing, but I never had these types of opportunities to be involved as a young Airman and I really would have benefitted from it," said Magas. "A lot of times this is the Airman's first time away from home in the military."

Katrina Gonzalez, Operation Homefront California program manager, noted that the program extends to servicemembers from other military branches that are stationed at Edwards as well.

"I think a lot of times our young servicemembers can go through financial hardships that no one knows about," said Gonzalez. 'Thanks for Giving' is a way for us to give back to them; they're going to have food for the holiday and a game. We want it to be like a little taste of home."

Master Sgt. Joseph Driscoll, 412th Maintenance Squadron has served in the Air Force for 20 years.

"I have five kids, so I was one of the individuals who started picking these up," said Driscoll. "We ate pretty good that weekend. We didn't make a whole lot of money so it was a nice touch. We were going to have a Christmas dinner, but this just kind of pushed it up to the point where we really going to have a holiday meal."

That was 17 years ago. Driscoll, now a first sergeant, has continued to participate in the program. Those first 10 years were as a recipient, but the last eight have been as a volunteer, stuffing the holiday bags and getting them in the hands of younger Airmen.

"It was great and that's one of the reasons I still support it now. Not just because I'm a first sergeant, I'll do it next year even when I don't have the diamond on," said Driscoll.

Melissa Dalton, Lockheed Martin communications, was a first-time volunteer at the "Thanks for Giving" event.

"It's really important for us to give back to the military families that we get the honor of serving through our products every day," said Dalton. "All of Lockheed Martin's charitable dollars are divided up into different pots and one of the pools that we give to primarily is veterans and active military.

Dalton shared that for her, the event is personal. She was born at Edwards AFB while her father was in the Air Force.

"Everyone on base works so hard," said Dalton. "If we can help them have a better Thanksgiving that's what we want to do."

Operation Homefront provides emergency assistance to servicemembers and veterans. To learn more visit www.operationhomefront.net.