MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. -- During the holiday season, the 927th Air Refueling Wing Family Airman Family Readiness Office here, creates a Wingman Tree, a tree that Wing members can select an angel representing an Airman and his or her family that are in need, this year the local community also helped answer the need.
“Each year we display the Wingman Tree and each year we have more Airmen that are willing to help than those Airmen that are in need,” said Master Sgt. Marchell Green, Airman & Family Readiness NCOIC, 927ARW. “This year was unique, not only did we have an incredible number of Airmen offering help but we also had the local community offer to help.”
Shortly after the tree was erected, Green started to received calls and emails from ‘do gooders’ outside the gates seeking ways to get involved and help the men and women of the Military.
“The Military does so much for us and makes so many sacrifices that we are always looking for ways to give back,” said Alice Bessette, president, Leadership Tampa Bay. “I was at a base function, sponsored by the [927] public affairs office and I heard of the Wingman Tree and thought what a great opportunity to help.”
Knowing that the desire to give was greater than the need, with guidance from Green, local organization and companies got creative.
“It touched my heart,” said Green. “The desire from the outside community was so pronounced, we were able to take care of other needs throughout the Wing,” “Vintage Real Estate adopted one family with two children, Lockheed Martin rallied and were able to put together 106 care packages for deployed Airmen, and 50 families were able to enjoy a true Thanksgiving dinner with the fixings thanks to the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce.”
No matter the time of the year, care packages are always a welcome surprise when deployed away from home.
“We wanted to do something for the men and women of our military, so we thought of a fun way to seek contributions throughout our company,” said Elisa Hallberg, Lockheed Martin, Lakeland, Florida. “We created a competition, which department could fill the most care packages, it’s just a very small way we can give back. We love our Military!”
The 927th is an integral part of the MacDill’s total force initiative and is equipped to provide many of the same capabilities as our regular Air Force counterparts performing operational missions.