TOP STORY >>Giving — Combat Airlift style

By Brig. Gen. Wayne Schatz
314th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

The Combined Federal Campaign contribution drive is in full swing at Little Rock Air Force Base. Last year, Combat Airlifters contributed to local, federal and international charities at record-setting rates. And I’m asking each of you to step up once again.

I hope that you will never have to call on assistance from any of the more than 2,400 charities benefiting from the CFC. But it’s not likely. The sad truth is that it’s probable someone you know has been or will be affected by cancer, be a victim of crime, has had a family member stricken with a devastating illness, or has been in the path of a natural disaster.

The charities we donate to now are the same ones supporting our Airmen and our military families every day. There are more than 100 organizations in Greater Arkansas alone that can benefit from the generosity of people on The Rock. They provide assistance to your friends, neighbors, coworkers, or quite possibly the people you sit with at church every Sunday.

I ask each of you – Active Duty, Reservists, Guardsmen and civilians –to donate. One of the benefits of the CFC is it’s a one-time drive. The campaign allows you to donate to charities that need your help without being approached week after week. This program allows you to select the organizations you feel most attached to and then choose the amount you would like to pledge. The giving spirit of military communities has always been strong. We are repeatedly asked to answer the call of duty and as Combat Airlifters we have never failed.

The decision to donate is yours and yours alone. All I ask is that you pause for a moment and reflect on your family, your community and their needs.

Consider giving up one fast food meal a week to provide seven weeks of after school care to an underprivileged youth.
See if your budget allows you to forgo one trip to your designer coffee shop each month to provide free prescription medications for an elderly person. Decide if you can live without one large pizza a week this year to provide emergency shelter for a battered woman and her child.

Only you can decide if you care to give and you are the only one who can decide what amount you’re comfortable donating. But please think twice before you chose not to give at all.

I have never been more proud to serve with such outstanding Airmen.
Combat Airlift!