A “Jennywings Holiday Stocking” hangs on a wall at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 7, 2011. The Jennywings program was created by Master Sgt. Lee Spaulding and his wife Jenny as a way to bring holiday cheer to deployed and injured service members. U.S. Air Force photo
by Airman 1st Class Trevor Rhynes |
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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS - 12/13/2011) -- "She was my best
friend for 27 years," said Master Sgt. Lee "Pepper" Spaulding, of
the 24th Intelligence Squadron, 693rd Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance Group. "Jenny made me a better man. This is what she
would have wanted done, so this is why I'm doing it."
It
started in 2004 while Spaulding was deployed to Southwest Asia. His
wife, Jenny, started making simple stockings to send in place of
care packages.
"I was deployed with approximately 50 people
and Jenny sent more than 100 stockings," he said. "Our job was to
give them out to the people around us."
After Spaulding came
back from deployment, his wife decided to expand their project. With
help from members of his unit, the Spauldings were able to fund "Jennywings
Holiday Stockings."
"We made enough for Airmen deployed from
our unit and decided to send some to Naval Medical Center
Portsmouth, Va.," he said.
For the Spauldings, reaching a
fraction of service members was not enough. They were ready to
spread their holiday cheer across the world.
"My wife wanted
to come here to do the stockings," Spaulding said of Ramstein Air
Base. "This is where all of the wounded come through, and she wanted
to support as many of them as possible."
However, Jenny
wasn't able to see her goal accomplished. In April 2009, she lost
her battle with bone cancer.
"Six months after she passed
away, I got orders to come here," Spaulding said. "Coming here was
truly a unique opportunity that I had to take."
Spaulding
took to the sewing machine and continued his wife's dream. |
"A big reason I continue doing this is because it's how I
work out my grief," he said. "Continuing this project is
what she would have wanted me to do."
Spaulding began
working on the stockings as soon as he was settled here.
With the help of a long-time friend, he was able to expand
the project.
"I have volunteered for what feels like
my entire life and this is one of the most rewarding for
me," said Linda Towne, a supervisor at the Ramstein Base
Exchange. "Being able to support our service members,
injured and deployed, really does mean a lot to me."
As far as production of the stockings goes, there has been a
lot of improvement.
"Last year we did about 200
stockings, which included our group, a unit in Hawaii, the
wounded warrior Christmas party put together by the United
Service Organizations, and the Combat Aeromedical Staging
Facility," Spaulding said.
With more than 500
stockings already made this year, Spaulding and his partner
sought the help of Ramstein AB Airmen and family members.
"This year we have invited the community to help," Towne
said. "We work long hours, have doubled last year's
stockings and added downrange hospitals. Next year, given
the willingness of volunteers, we hope to double this year's
numbers as well."
The difference between a
conventional care package and these stockings is simple --
the look.
"These are easy," Spaulding said. "When you
walk into some places and there is a big box of care
packages, it could look intimidating. We made the stockings
small, giving us the option to tailor them to the person
receiving it."
Once all the stockings are made, they
are sent out to a variety of agencies and locations.
Jennywings Holiday Stockings works with Soldiers Angels, the
USO, a hospital located at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, as
well as deployed service members downrange.
For
Senior Airman Steve Johnson, also with the 24th IS,
receiving a stocking broke up the everyday routine that
comes with being deployed.
"I received a Jennywings
stocking last Christmas while in Iraq," Johnson said. "When
I received it, it momentarily stopped time and put me in the
holiday spirit. Small things like this remind us that there
are people back home who are thinking about us."
Providing service members with a morale boost during the
holiday season is something that Spaulding hopes to continue
for a long time.
"I plan on doing this for years,
eventually retiring here for a while," Spaulding said. "But
while I'm here, I'm going to be doing this."
By Airman 1st Class Trevor Rhynes
86th Airlift Wing Public
Affairs
Air Force News Service
Copyright 2011
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