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The 107th Airlift Wing Serves the Community

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Ray Lloyd
  • 107th Airlift Wing
Niagara Falls, NY --  INTEGRITY FIRST, SERVICE BEFORE SELF AND EXCELLENCE IN ALL WE DO. The Air Force motto not only applies to our military duty but carries over into all we do. On December 21, 2011, members of the 107th Airlift Wing continued it's tradition of serving and supporting the Niagara Community Mission by sponsoring an annual food drive and providing a truckload containing boxes of food, canned goods and frozen turkeys purchased from their Feed the Family Campaign.

This campaign was held over the past few unit training weekends where members had the opportunity to contribute monetary donations as well as canned goods. These donations were used to feed a family with a complete turkey dinner to include dressing, vegetables and desert for their holiday meal. "This is my third year as committee chairman, and although the donations were not as abundant as in past years, we managed to provide help for the mission," said Master Sergeant Steve Buja, Structural Repair Supervisor.

Unit members along with mission staff unloaded boxes of food, canned goods and frozen turkeys stocking up the food pantry. It may not feel like Christmas with the wet rainy weather in Niagara Falls, but you can feel the spirit of the holiday season at the mission. Recognizing the needs of the community, the 107th has been contributing to the Niagara Falls City Mission for more than 18 years.

"Thank you, Thank you! You guys are super for helping us out and having compassion for all of our community. We have doubled the amount of families in need from last year. Having the help from the Air National Guard is a blessing" said Katie Trombley, Public Relations & Development Manager for the Community Missions.

Unit members consider their work as rewarding and the true meaning of the holiday season - being able to help out the less fortunate. This is small way of showing appreciation to the local community for the support they give us throughout the year.
"This is my first year and I found it extremely rewarding to see how our unit as a whole is helping the local community in such a great way," said Tech. Sgt. Amanda Doherty, Military Pay Technician. "Knowing that over 150 families will have meals through this holiday season speaks for itself."