Program provides help for holidays Published Nov. 24, 2009 By Jonathan Hicks Keesler Public Affairs KESSLER AFB, Miss -- Thanksgiving and Christmas are times of joy and cheer. The holidays are also an opportunity to help members of the Keesler family. Project Cheer is a charitable initiative coordinated and sponsored by the first sergeants council to help permanent party Airmen with families who are experiencing financial difficulties and need assistance during the holiday season. The annual program has successfully provided hundreds of families with holiday meals. The first sergeants support the project with an annual golf tournament and other fund-raisers. This year's holiday push begins Friday and ends Dec. 20. During the campaign, the first sergeants will be in front of the base exchange and commissary to collect donations, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Last year, Project Cheer started with an initial investment of $20 and raised more than $14,000. This enabled the first sergeants to help more than 100 families identified by supervisors and commanders with a $100 check to the commissary. Master Sergeant Christopher Rash, 81st Security Forces Squadron first sergeant, is the point of contact for this year's campaign and he hopes to have just as much success this time around. "All of the first sergeants are very excited and energized about the program," Sergeant Rash said. "We really look forward to being able to positively touch the lives of so many airman and they're families. It's a joy for us to put smiles on their faces and let them know that this is more than a workplace -- that the Air Force is also a family."