On November 23rd, Minot AFB First Sergeants hosted their annual Thanksgiving meal giveaway called “Share the Joy”. Every year, 150 Thanksgiving meals are given away for free to Airmen and their families on MAFB, thanks to Operation Warm Heart, which is longstanding organization within the Air Force that takes care of Airmen and their families when emergencies arise. Master Sergeant Sarah Bordges from 5LRS, President of Operation Warm Heart, MSgt Anastacia Schroeder formerly 5 LRS before PCS-ing, Vice President, and MSgt Chris Rutkowski from 705 MUNS, Treasurer, hosted this year’s event. With the help of the Mayor of Minot, Tom Ross, the MAFB Commissary, and the current students at the Airmen Leadership School (ALS), this event went off without a hitch!
When asked the importance of “Share the Joy”, MSgt Bordges said, “Airmen are spending a lot of money on different things, and so we want to help provide something… for Thanksgiving so they can kind of help with their families and maybe save a little bit of money.” She went on to describe the sense of community the event brings, and she hopes the Airmen know that their First Sergeants are there for them.
Minot has been participating in this event for years, and this year’s event was extra special because they were able to provide all the meals using internal funding instead of having to ask for donations from the base community. According to MSgt Bordges, “Our treasurer, MSgt Chris Rutkowski, did a huge job this year. He teamed up with the mayor of the city of Minot and helped us gather a lot of [financial] donations… So, we were able to pay for all of this out of pocket this year. Normally, we ask for donations from the community, but this year Chris (MSgt Rutkowski) did so great with raising all this money we were able to afford everything ourselves.”
All volunteers for the event woke up bright and early to be at the Food Pantry near 5 Civil Engineering Squadron by 9am. All the meals were packaged up, loaded and brought to the Turf parking lot for distribution. From there, all the excitement started at 10am. Cars lined up around the block in anticipation of the free meals to be handed out. The staff and volunteers were smiling and excited to begin their work. Chief Master Sergeant Becky Thomas from the 91 Missile Wing command team said, “This shirt council for real is amazing. They work day and night, and they take care of people. It’s the weekend, and it’s cold and they are giving out turkeys to make sure families are good. I I love it.” In my opinion, the excitement in the air and the sense of togetherness was inspiring.
The free meals were available to all families on MAFB regardless of rank. Each family who attended, received an entire turkey and all the fixings for creating a traditional Thanksgiving meal including ingredients for green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potato, cranberry sauce, and rolls.
There were 37 volunteers at “Share the Joy” this year including a few First Sergeants, ALS students, and even some base families. When asked why Senior Airmen Oleesa James of the 91 Security Forces Group wanted to volunteer at this year’s event she said, “I love volunteering with my comrades and just giving back. It’s a beautiful time of the year and you know I am very thankful, and I want to give.” This beautiful sentiment seemed to resonate all around with everyone who volunteered at the event. Senior Airmen Tyler Wales from 5 Security Forces Squadron had similar feelings and said, “I wanted to give back to the community.”
By the time the event ended at 11am all 150 Thanksgiving Meals had been given out to grateful MAFB families. This year was another successful “Share the Joy” event for the books!
