Surrounded by stacks of school supplies, Senior Airman Aaron Smith stands in the middle of a mission that almost didn’t go.

The supplies are donations from stateside groups and individuals and the mission is Operation Provide School Supplies. Without the Airmen of the 506th Air Expeditionary Group, the mission was in jeopardy.

Airman Smith, a chapel assistant deployed from Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., was instrumental in reviving the program. Operation Provide School Supplies originally belonged to the U.S. Army’s 116th Civil Affairs Battalion. When the unit rotated out in August, the duties transferred to the 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, but they were understaffed. It was then the chapel here stepped in.

“The program is very important because it allows the military to reach out to the people of Kirkuk,” Airman Smith said. “The children in this area have nothing, let alone school supplies and we are doing our part to ensure they are given the basic tools to learn.”

These basic supplies include pens, pencils, notebooks and other items. The packets are assembled by volunteers who have contacted friends and family back home for donations. Once assembled, the packets are given to the 451st, who deliver the supplies to 24 schools in the local area.

“At first we had hardly any supplies [arriving] and the ones we did have had been sitting in a warehouse getting dirty,” Airman Smith said. “People started e-mailing their home stations and we had a flood of supplies.”

In just the past four months, approximately 25 to 30 volunteers here collected more than $1,000 in supplies and assembled approximately 7,400 packets.

Heading up the program now is Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Man, deployed from Aviano Air Base, Italy.

“This is such a great thing that we, as Airmen, can do for this country,” she said. “This is unity at its best between the Air Force, Army, friends and family back home and the people of Iraq.”

It is now up to the members of the next expeditionary force to pick up the program and improve it.

“The 506th is interested in expanding the program to include other items, such as toys and personal hygiene items,” said Lt. Col. Dave Carrell. He is the vice commander of the 506th Air Expeditionary Group, deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. “This will go a long way in building the relationship between the United States and the people of Iraq.”

In addition to expanding the program beyond school supplies, the colonel said the 506th will support other agencies as well, such as the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the power and oil infrastructure team.

“These organizations go out into the community every day,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for them to solidify relationships and make contact with the people they need to work with.”

The colonel said, people back home want to know how they can help the troops and the people of Iraq.

“Americans have big hearts and this is their chance to show American generosity,” he said.

As the stacks of school supplies dwindle with each packet that goes out the door, the Airmen of Kirkuk Air Base are doing their part in helping Iraq and its children.