Posted on 03/07/2006 5:39:41 PM PST by SandRat
3/7/2006 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- After the devastation from Hurricane Katrina left the base and the surrounding area in dire straits, the community desperately needed help to recover. Airmen here have answered that call.
“We were in crisis mode right after the hurricane trying to make sure people had the bare minimum to survive,” said Maj. Teresa Roberts, director of the family support center.
Since Hurricane Katrina, the center has logged more than 38,000 volunteer hours supporting all facets of the rebuilding effort. They are still handling about 10 requests per week with assisting in clearing hurricane debris and programs by Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army.
Major Roberts credits the overwhelming numbers of volunteers from Keesler in the success of their efforts not just on base, but in the surrounding communities as well.
“Their hearts are so in it, we have people coming out on their down days to help. They just have the desire to do more and more,” she said.
Some of those volunteers include Airmen attending one of the technical training schools here. One of those volunteers, Airman Marcus Straughn, an aviator resource management trainee from Georgiana, Ala., said he is happy to be part of the recovery effort.
“It all goes back to elementary school where I learned to do onto others as you would have them do to you,” he said. “It gives me a warm feeling in my heart knowing I have been able to make a difference.”
With the recovery effort still going strong and volunteers still doing what they can to make a difference, Major Roberts summed up the process.
“Being a volunteer is being a part of a winning team,” she said. “As a community we are starting rebuild, but the need is going to be here for a while.”
Airman Marcus Straughn hangs donated clothes at a Salvation Army center in Gulfport, Miss. Airmen from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., have logged more than 38,000 volunteer hours since Hurricane Katrina. Airman Straughn is an aviation resource trainee at Keesler AFB. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Larry A. Simmons)
Kessler AFB lends a hand to the community.
I was in training at Keesler during Katrina. Only a few hundered volunteers could stay to do clean-up, the rest were sent to Shepherd AFB. (I can tell you that almost all wanted to stay and help the community.)
For those who stayed, there was a lot of clean-up in the local area. The most helpful thing immediately afterwards was delivering MRE's and bottled water to the locals by the truckload.
I was stationed at Keesler from 1995 to 1996 for tech school.
As much as I hated it then, I miss it now.
I was there '87-'88. Met my first wife there. Many fond memories despite the hostility of the locals.
BTTT
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