Volunteer connects kids, deployers

Technical Sergeants Tomsanna Farley and Renee Williams make bracelets at Kandahar Airfield on May 22. The bracelets will be sent to the United States as gifts. Both Sergeant Farley and Sergeant Williams volunteer at the USO on their day off from work at the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley)

Volunteer connects kids, deployers

Tech. Sgt. Renee Williams sets up a camera to record a soldier who is preparing to read a book at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan on May 22. Sergeant Williams volunteers on her day off to help deployers read donated books to their friends and families at home. She is assigned to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at the airfield. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley)

Volunteer connects kids, deployers

Published May 28, 2011
By Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley
451st AEW Public Affairs

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- In the USO tent at Kandahar Airfield, the imitation fire place, sofas and lamp lighting made a group of deployed Airmen and soldiers feel like they were back at home May 21.

"It takes me away from the everyday," said Tech. Sgt. Renee Williams, of the 451st Air Expeditionary wing of KAF.

Sergeant Williams enjoyed spending time at the USO and began volunteering her one day off a week to help with the reading program, which records deployed people reading books. The video, along with the book, can then be mailed to a child.

Master Sgt. Victor Kennedy, from the 451st Expeditionary Logistics and Readiness Squadron, chose to read "There is a Bird on Your Head" for his 6-year-old granddaughter Acacia. He liked that the video would let her see his face, he said.

"We have grandparents, uncles, aunts who read," said Megan Lynch, the program manager at KAF. "A number of guys read to kids they haven't even met," she explained that some children may have been born during a deployment.

After Kennedy picked out his book from the library, Williams helped him set up a camera in a private reading room. A small disk records about 20 minutes of video, which can be played like a DVD.

The program is free for deployed military members and is funded through donations. Popular and familiar book titles, such as "The Cat in the Hat" and "Goodnight Moon" are often in stock, although it varies, said Lynch. For older children "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Black Beauty" were available that day. A reader can select one book per visit to the KAF USO tent.

"That's what kind of blew my mind is that the books are donated and brand new and I don't even have to stand in line at the post office," Williams said, describing the line that stretches out the door of the KAF post office. "Even though I'm not there with my kid I'm able to give something to her."

Deployers who choose to read can write a personalized note inside the book as they address envelopes with big permanent markers sitting at the USO coffee tables. Williams helps them feel like they're closer to home.