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Story and photo by: Sgt. Bryan Ploughe, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery
Col. Rondal Turner presents Sgt. 1st Class Donald Jones with the 2010 Food Drive winning plaque. Two Kentucky Army National Guard units donated more than 1,000 pounds of non-perishable food items to their local non-profit organizations for distribution during the holiday season. Pictured from left to right are Staff Sgt. Brian Garrett, Staff Sgt. Will Sewell, Sgt. 1st Class Donald Jones, Col. Rondal Turner, Sgt. 1st Class Chad Jones, Lt. Col. Jeffery Hughes and Family Assistance Specialist Kari Hutchison. (Photo by Sgt. Bryan Ploughe, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery UPAHR)
NOTE: Each Wednesday kentuckyguard.com publishes stories by Kentucky National Guard unit public affairs historian representatives, also known as UPAHRs. This is an additional duty taken on by a Soldier or Airmen with the intent of telling their unit’s story. This is one such story ….
GLASCOW, Ky. (May 18, 2011) – Giving to local communities is a long standing tradition for the Kentucky Army National Guard. Two units from 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery were recognized for their support in a ceremony held recently at the Glasgow Amory.
Each year the Kentucky National Guard, in coordination with Kentucky National Guard Family Programs staff, conducts food drives around the holiday season. A challenge is put out to all units to try to generate as much non-perishable food as they can to donate to local non-profit organizations of their choosing.
Battery A, located in Tompkinsville, captured first place for the most food donated for the Thanksgiving holiday. Headquarters Battery, located in Glasgow, captured first place for the most food donated for the Christmas holiday. The two units together generated more than 1,000 pounds of food for their local charities.
Sgt. 1st Class Donald Jones received the award for Headquarters Battery.
“We are not the winners here,” said Jones. “Although we hold the plaque, the families in the community that will be getting this food are the ones that we need to keep in our minds. We have not won until these families don’t require our assistance.”
“These Soldiers are always willing to step up to a challenge,” said Col. Rondal Turner, 138th Brigade Commander. “Whenever these Soldiers are presented with an opportunity to shine, not only do the approach the opportunity with a winning attitude, they go all out and accomplish the mission with a level of success that would make any commander proud.”
“Our battalion has always been very fortunate in the relationship that we have with our hometowns,” said Lt. Col. Jeffery Hughes, commander for the 1/623rd. “This is just another way that we can continue to give to the citizens that give so much to us. The holidays are truly a time of year that we should focus on those in need. Our Soldiers have done a fine job of demonstrating their commitment to their fellow citizens.”
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Kristen Arnett helps Santa sort through just a small portion of the toys collected by the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2010) — The 2010 Kentucky National Guard Christmas toy drive reached new heights with a massive effort between Guard members, Families and friends across the Commonwealth.
The toy drive is part of Operation Military Cheer, an effort by the Kentucky National Guard’s Family Assistance Center to ensure that the children of Kentucky’s military Families have a memorable Christmas.
“We support all military Families, not just the Guard,” said Cindy Culver,state youth coordinator for the Kentucky National Guard. “And there is plenty of need to go around.”
Between multiple deployments and the spiraling economy, Kentucky’s Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen have been hit particularly hard this year with an unemployment rate of more than 20 percent.
“In the Kentucky Guard alone we have more than 420 children who are asking for help and the requests keep coming in,” said Culver. “That’s up more than a hundred from last year.”
Santa gets a helping hand from Shelia Brookins, wife of Sgt. Darrell Brookins. More than 600 toys were collected by LBAR, destined for military families in need across Kentucky.
The good news is that charity is still alive. One of the most significant contributors for this year’s drive was the
Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors. This is the fourth consecutive year that LBAR has partnered with the Kentucky Guard for a toy drive. A trailer filled with everything from dolls to bicycles was collected by the association’s membership. Gift cards totaling $1,125 were also collected during the effort.
“We do this to give back to the Guard,” said Rock Daniels, who organized the LBAR toy drive. “They do so much for us, we really pushed hard to make this happen.”
Capt. Bryan Combs presents Rock Daniels with a token of appreciation for his efforts in organizing the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors toy drive.
Daniels credited Jesse Hardin of Flagstar Bank, real estate attorney Dan Miller and property inspector John Bain for making significant contributions toward the cause.
“Together these gentlemen contributed more than $900 for the drive,” said Daniels. “They were huge in making this happen.”
The Lexington chapter of the Disabled American Veterans was another driving force in the LBAR drive, contributing six of the bicycles.
“This is our third year in helping out the service members and their Families,” said Les Mulcahy, commander of the Lexington DAV chapter. “We’ve all been in their shoes and know what they’re going through. It is an honor to serve.”
Danny Jones gathers up two of the bicycles donated by the Lexington chapter of the Disabled American Veterans.
Santa and his elves: Soldiers, spouses and volunteers, all pulling together to make the holidays a time of hope and joy.
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To find out how you can become part of Operation Military Cheer contact: Cindy Culver @ cindy.culver@us.army.mil or Linda Jones @ linda.jones@us.army.mil. You can also reach them through the Family Assistance Center hotline at 1-800-372-7601.
To see more photos from Operation Military Cheer visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyngpao.
