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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Thirty-four Airmen from the 60th Operations Group at Travis Air Force Base, California, volunteered to package meals for families in need at the Solano Food Bank in Fairfield, California, March 24.
The team spent 11 hours packaging a variety of foods including carrots, onions, pasta, fruits and rice.
Tech. Sgt. Amanda Richardson, 21st Airlift Squadron NCO in charge of aviation resource management and the coordinator for the project, said it’s important to give back to the community.
“It’s very important to give back because we are usually guests at our assignment locations,” said Richardson. “Very rarely are we from the areas that we are stationed. So just like being overseas or deployed, we need to support the communities that support us and show them that we are always here for them, even in the smallest way.”
“When people see us in uniform and thank us for our service, we need to ask ourselves what have we done for them,” she said.
With that selfless mindset, Richardson led a team of nearly three dozen Airmen to help provide food for people living in 26 cities with a population over 1.7 million.
“From 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. we worked in shifts to box as much food as possible,” said Richardson.
Lauren Strouse, Solano Food Bank volunteer coordinator, said she was impressed with the productivity the Airmen displayed.
“The Airmen boxed 3,331 pounds of food donations and bagged 3,400 pounds of fresh produce,” said Strouse. “The food will be distributed to families throughout Solano and Contra Costa Counties, providing approximately 5,384 meals.”
Airman Kimberly Vazquez, 21st AS aviation resource manager, spent nearly four hours helping package meals that day.
“It was a humbling experience,” she said. “We have so much given to us, many people may take some things for granted. Giving back is important and being able to provide for others was really nice.”
The event was part of the 60th OG’s new initiative to encourage volunteering in the local community. The initiative calls for OG Airmen to volunteer in some capacity once per quarter.
There are so many organizations that need assistance, said Richardson. “Right now, there is not a set agenda for next quarter, but there are several options on the table and we will choose one at a later date.”
Strouse said the food bank would gladly welcome Travis Airmen back to volunteer.
“We are always impressed with the work they do, they work hard, fast and they accomplish a lot,” she said.
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