AFLCMC volunteers assist with local school field day

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The sounds of boisterous chatter and excited shouts filled the air at Edison Elementary School in Dayton, Ohio, as the students celebrated the final days of school with a fun filled field day. Kids of all ages spent the day playing games with their friends and interacting with Air Force volunteers as well as members of the local fire and police department.
 
Airmen and civilians with the Special Programs Division within the Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate (AFLCMC/WAG) volunteered to help with a local elementary school’s field day.
 
“Participation in the event is beneficial for WAG employees as well as the students,” said Morgan Carroll, AFLCMC/WAG contracting officer. “From our perspective, the event is good for our morale and most of us have participated in field day at least once while working in this organization.”
 
Members of AFLCMC volunteer yearly with the local school to help with this large event since the school doesn’t have many parental volunteers. 
 
“At a Shoes for the Shoeless event that WAG volunteered for our former leader heard that the school was struggling to host a field day event due to the lack of parent volunteers,” Carroll said “He offered that WAG employees could fill the volunteer slots and from that point forward, WAG has volunteered each year.”
 
Volunteering to support events in the local community helps build lasting relationships. 
 
“It is important to be involved with Edison because every student deserves to participate in field day and without our help, the school might not be able to host it,” Carroll added. “It also provides us with an opportunity to make a difference within a community that is a bit farther from base, so they don’t often see military members around.”
For Captain Adam Kane, an AFLCMC WAG program manager, volunteering at events like these helps to provide children with a fun experience. 
 
“We’re volunteering here so that kids can have fun playing tug-of-war, football, soccer or other games at different stations,” he said. “The kids get to see us in uniform and it gives them the opportunity to come up and talk to us. It might even inspire them to want to join the military or just getting them curious about what we do.”