Airman and family readiness center gets grant from American Red Cross

Published Dec. 2, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Chuck Marsh
Keesler Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- Tech. Sgt. Jessica Woodruff has a simple mission -- take care of the families of those deployed from Keesler. Execution of that mission is the opposite -- complex and logistically exhausting.

Sergeant Woodruff and the airman and family readiness center team have received a $9,865 grant from the American Red Cross to step up their events for families of deployed members.

Sergeant Woodruff worked with the American Red Cross on other projects and spoke with them about how she accomplished the mission. The conversation shifted to how projects are funded.

"We put our heads together and wrote up a grant proposal to Red Cross regional," she said.

The other person represented in the "we" is Raemona Welder, director of development for the Mississippi Gulf Coast American Red Cross.

"I met Raemona when we were working in old Cody Hall -- she had some young Red Cross volunteers that wanted to help with some of my programs," said Sergeant Woodruff. "I told her about all the different programs we do for deployed families. She seemed surprised by the amount of things we did, but equally surprised that all the things we did were done through fundraising or donations.

"One day she asked if I would write up some of my main programs and how much money it took to get those done," she continued. "I sent her an e-mail with an explanation of all my programs, who they benefited and how much they cost. Raemona did all the rest.

"I was elated when it was approved," she said.

The first event to benefit from the grant was a turkey bingo for families of deployed members on Nov. 18. Sergeant Woodruff was able to purchase 50 holiday food boxes from the commissary as prizes.

"The boxes have items to help you cook a Thanksgiving dinner like pie mix, mashed potatoes, things like that," she explained. "Also, each box had a gift certificate to the commissary for $25 so the winner could purchase a ham or turkey. At the end of the night we had one last game where one winner won a $50 and another won a $100 gift certificate -- everyone left with something."

Next, Sergeant Woodruff plans to buy $5,000 worth of toys to give away at Christmas in the Park, an annual event scheduled for Dec. 11 that benefits the whole base. Sergeant Woodruff said she's thankful to be able to have the extra income to allow the center to do more for the families and their deployed loved ones.

"I love doing these things for deployed family members and Keesler personnel, but sometimes if money was low or fundraising wasn't great, I had to cut back," she pointed out. "At least for the next few months I don't have to worry about that."