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455th Airmen contribute to Operation Care humanitarian aid

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Richard Williams
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Members of the 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron recently adjusted office space to accommodate more than 1,100 pounds of humanitarian aid sent here.

The donation, 38 boxes of shoes, was facilitated by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ronald Knight, 455th EAPS, an air transportation operations center data records technician.
A reservist from Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., Sergeant Knight said when he here in November, he received an e-mail sent out by Brig. Gen. Steven Kwast, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, commander.

"General Kwast put the word out that hospital personnel had noticed a lot of children coming in with no shoes," said Sergeant Knight, a Marblehead, Mass. resident. "This really tweaked something with me because I am a father and when you see children with nothing I think most people want to do something."

Sergeant Knight decided he wanted to help, so he sent an e-mail to his wife, who works for the Marblehead Public School system, and three other friends. Initially these individuals coordinated the efforts of two schools to ship 20 boxes of shoes to Sergeant Knight in January 2010.

At the same time, four other schools in his home community were collecting additional shoes to be sent for donation to communities around Afghanistan.

"When I got the first shipment in January, we gave 10 boxes to the local hospitals at Bagram and sent 10 boxes out to Herat to an orphanage," he explained. "When the second shipment came in, I learned about Operation Care through the chaplain's office."
Sergeant Knight got in contact with U.S. Army Lt. Col. Terry Owens, Task Force 30th Medical Command, deployed from Heidelberg, Germany, to find out if OC could use the shoes.

Colonel Owens, who is the president of Operation Care and a Hampton, Va. native, was more than happy to accept the items.

"Operation Care is non-profit all volunteer organization started at Bagram in 2002," said Colonel Owens.

"It was started by civilians and coalition forces to act as a bridge between the counterinsurgency operations and civil affairs action by providing humanitarian aid to local communities and to assist servicemembers who are located in some of the far reaching forward operating bases," she added.

When OC receives items, they send them to anyone who requests support. The provincial reconstruction teams, agricultural reconstruction teams and other coalition forces are able to take them out to the villages and help, said Sergeant Knight.

Colonel Owens explained the importance of these donations, "It is something the insurgency cannot provide the people of Afghanistan. They may bestow fear and aggression, but they can't give the people what they need, the basic things like shoes, clothes and school supplies for all of the new schools we have been building."

"These types of things help," explained Sergeant Knight. "I was deployed to Kandahar last year and saw children with no shoes and I didn't know how to help."
He added 30 percent of the shoes had never been worn, and that the total group effort from his hometown was amazing, "If it is my hometown's little way to help efforts in Afghanistan then that is what they are doing."

"The support is pretty exciting for me and back home they are proud to have helped," he added. Sergeant Knight also said that it wasn't just his effort; 455th EAPS gave him a place to store the boxes until they could be taken to the OC storage area and they helped move them.

Colonel Owens lauded the efforts of the selfless citizens of Marblehead who provided the donations and ensured the efforts of OC could continue to assist the local population. "It is difficult sometimes when you have a nonprofit that helps servicemembers and the local population. We operate under the banner of an equal opportunity provider and ensure we take care of everyone who needs what we have."

"It is fascinating to me that people back home would take time to go through their closets or go to the store to help people that they don't even know," said Sergeant Knight. "It gives you a good feeling and it gives them a good feeling, and that is important because this is going to hopefully help a lot of people."

If anyone is interested in donating to Operation Care, visit their Web site, www.operation-care.net for contact information and donation guidelines.