Leave donations help during crisis

  • Published
  • By Kari Tilton
  • Ogden Air Logistics Center Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AFPN) --  In March 2003, Stacy Davenport delivered twins, one boy and one girl, but they were four months early.

Brady, the boy, weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces, while his sister, Grace, weighed only 1 pound, 1 ounce.

Two days after they were born, Brady died. Doctors said the next several days were critical for Grace. Her tiny body was full of IVs, and she was living on a respirator.

Grace is alive and well now, but at the time Mrs. Davenport feared for her daughter's life. While dealing with this and the loss of her son, the last thing she needed to worry about was her paycheck. Thanks to the Federal Voluntary Leave Transfer Program, she did not have to.

"I had only worked at Hill for one short year when confronted with these challenges," said Mrs. Davenport who works in the maintenance directorate here. "My annual leave was used up very quickly."

Mrs. Davenport said her supervisor filled out the leave-donation application paperwork on her behalf, and it was not long before donation hours came pouring in.

"They came from friends, family and even strangers," she said. "I had no idea people could be so generous to someone they hardly knew. (My husband and I) were completely overwhelmed by the generosity of all the wonderful people at Hill that we have come to call friends."

The leave-sharing program allows civilian employees to donate annual leave to benefit other employees whose annual and sick leave has been exhausted because of a medical emergency.

The Davenports are among the nearly 200 base employees who rely on the voluntary leave-donation program each year. In 2003, employees here donated more than 20,500 hours of leave. Each base has its own independent program.

"We always need people to donate," said Tammy Smith, an employee-relations assistant here.

Employees needing leave are only eligible after they have exhausted all or nearly all of their own time, both sick and annual, Ms. Smith said. Not all medical conditions are eligible to receive leave donations. Pregnancy and elective surgery, for instance, are not covered, but complications during a pregnancy and nonelective surgery are.

If a person knows, in advance, that a medical procedure will consume their earned leave, they can get set up on the program ahead of time, Ms. Smith said.

The average employee's donation to the program is about one working day's worth of time, and all donations are held in strict confidence, Ms. Smith said. Those benefiting from donations are never told who donated and how much they gave.

For more information, contact your base Federal Voluntary Leave Transfer Program representative. (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service)