Children give to deployed Thunderbolts

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class C.J. Hatch
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  During this time of year it's easy to get wrapped up in what presents and surprises await Christmas morning, but that's not the case for some people who wanted to do something for former and active-duty servicemembers.

Desert Tunes, a local charitable group, along with the help of people and schools around Luke Air Force Base donated more than 3,000 items to the base Dec. 19.

Tom Sloan and Desert Tunes have been gathering donations for veterans at the local VA nursing home for a number of years. Students from Winters Well Elementary decorated stockings and Desert Tunes filled them with the donated goods to be delivered on Christmas as part of a small singing program the group performs.

"In past years we've received donations from businesses," Mr. Sloan said. "But, due to the economy we've had trouble getting the donations we needed to fill the stockings. So we went public with it and the donations that came in were unreal."

The response Mr. Sloan received from the public shocked him, including the efforts of a nine-year old boy.

"There was a fourth grade student from Litchfield Elementary, Tristen Soto, whose grandfather was in Vietnam," Mr. Sloan recounted. "He read an article in the paper and took it to his teacher to get the school involved. The school contacted us and donated more than 1,500 items for the troops."

After looking through the donations, Desert Tunes realized they had more than the veterans could use. So the group decided to donate the rest to Luke.

"Once we decided to give the rest to the base, I contacted a friend of mine who worked here on base," Mr. Sloan said. "He got me in contact with the 56th Security Forces Squadron and from there it just grew."

Mr. Sloan delivered 15 boxes of items ranging from personal hygiene products to boxes of candy for security forces.

"We plan on sending some of the items to our members who are deployed," said Chief Master Sgt. Patrick Wilson, 56th SFS superintendent. "The rest we're giving to Operation Thunderbox to be delivered to other deployed Luke Airmen."