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Operation Holiday Hope Brings Santa and Joy
by U.S. Air Force Natalie Stanley, 926th Wing Public Affairs
December 11,
2020
The holidays were made brighter for families of the 926th Wing
during the Airman and Family Readiness Center’s Operation Holiday
Hope on December 5, 2020 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
With the support of a non-profit, Airmen who signed up for the event
received bikes, Christmas trees and stands, toys, books, and gift
cards.
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Santa's elf, Tech. Sgt. Charles Shaw, 926th Wing volunteer, is getting into the spirit while organizing and displaying everything to prepare for the 926th Wing Airman and Family Readiness Operation Holiday Hope event, Dec. 5, 2020 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Paige Yenke)
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“This was a great event,” said Tech. Sgt. Lydia Ruiz, 726th
Operations Group, command support staff. “I’m fairly new to the wing
and after the year we had it was nice to just see people and have
that human interaction.”
To host an event of this magnitude
required careful planning between A&FR and Kimmy McDaniel, the
supporting non-profit director.
“It was a couple of months
of coordination and setting up the website, trying to figure out
parameters and the needs of everyone who was registering,” said
Eileen Collins, 926th WG A&FR director.
A total of 130
individual requests were identified throughout the wing.
McDaniel and her team of volunteers, drove the donations from March
Air Reserve Base, California on Wednesday and wing volunteers were
on hand to help them unload the gifts and Christmas trees at Nellis
AFB.
With social distancing and masks, Santa, along with his
reindeer and elves, were on hand the day of the event to welcome
families and take photos the kids.
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Santa greets families, takes photos and hands out candy canes to the kids during the Airman and Family Readiness Operation Holiday Hope event, Dec. 5, 2020, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Paige Yenke)
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Families also enjoyed Christmas cookies, provided
by the 926th WG Key Spouses, hot chocolate, apple cider, holiday
music, and more.
“I like how it was organized, it was small
and intimate and we really enjoyed it, especially the hot
chocolate,” said Ruiz.
Seeing everyone come out and just
enjoy the moment was the brightest moment for Collins.
“I
expected to see the families and kids, but to see people take a
break from work and enjoy the hot chocolate and music and just be
with each other was the best part,” Collins said.
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Staff Sgt. Tatianna Thomas, 926 Force Support Squadron services specialist, lets her son, Michael Johnson, take his new car for a ride during the Airman and Family Readiness Operation Holiday Hope event, Dec. 5, 2020, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Paige Yenke)
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Collins
said that often with these types of programs Airmen tend to shy away
from signing up because they believe others may be in greater need,
but she hopes to see this change in the future.
“I’d like to
change that mentality,” she said. “These are non-profits that just
want to give back to the military and thank the community for all
they do.”
With wing leadership’s support of these events,
Collins hopes to have an even better turn out next year and give
everyone a chance to be merry for the holidays.
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