Airmen donate time, supplies to Afghans

PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- Staff Sgt. John Golden hands an Afghan child a stuffed animal and coloring book during an adopt-a-village trip here. Airmen from the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at nearby Bagram Air Base take part in the program to assist villages in Afghanistan with infrastructure, fresh water, school supplies and toys for children. Sergeant Golden is an aerospace ground equipment technician with the 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron and is deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Mark D. Gibson)

Airmen donate time, supplies to Afghans

PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- Tech. Sgt. Antonio Guitron hands an Afghan boy a stuffed animal during an adopt-a-village trip here. Airmen from the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at nearby Bagram Air Base take part in the program to assist villages in Afghanistan with infrastructure, fresh water, school supplies and toys for children. Sergeant Guitron is the noncommissioned officer in charge of the 455th Expeditionary Services Squadron and is deployed from Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Mark D. Gibson)

Airmen donate time, supplies to Afghans

PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- An Afghan boy holds up a teddy bear given to him by Airmen of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at nearby Bagram Air Base during an adopt-a-village visit. The program allows Airmen to assist villages in Afghanistan with infrastructure, fresh water, school supplies and toys for children. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Mark D. Gibson)

Airmen donate supplies to Afghans

Published June 30, 2005
By Capt. Mark D. Gibson
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- About 50 Airmen recently volunteered to organize a container filled with nearly 63,000 pounds of donated supplies for an additional mission here -- the adoption of a village.

Airman sorted the supplies into groups for males, females, adults and children.

The Airmen then traveled to a village several miles outside Bagram to distribute the supplies.

They delivered bags filled with basic school supplies to about 200 children from Haji Khan Baba, a small village within Afghanistan’s Parwan Province.

“Each child received his or her own toy and bundle of school supplies,” said 1st Lt. David Knight, a 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron operations officer. “We also dropped off about two pickup trucks full of large bags of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing with the village elder. The toys and school supplies were donated by our troops here and their support system back home. The donated items never seem to stop coming.”

The success of the daylong humanitarian effort was not only seen through the eyes of these smiling children and their parents, but was also felt by the Airmen who made it happen.

“It was a great experience ... I really felt like I was making a difference, and the trip gave me the opportunity to go ‘outside the wire’ and see local villages,” said Tech. Sgt. Michael McGeever, noncomissioned officer in charge of the legal office.

Planning for this excursion started about a month in advance. Security forces Airmen and Office of Special Investigations agents surveyed the surrounding towns, plotted the routes in and out of the village, and coordinated with the Army’s provincial reconstruction team so the group would know exactly what to expect, Lieutenant Knight said.

“The list of people who wanted to help out was enormous,” said Master Sgt. Darryl Postell, 455th EMSG’s first sergeant and project coordinator. “We are here to fight terrorism, stop bad guys and win the heart and minds of the Afghan people. Adopt-a-village is a win-win situation for everyone because the children of Afghanistan receive toys and badly needed school supplies while allowing Airmen, our ambassadors in blue, the opportunity to travel out to local villages, which leads to an experience they will never forget.”