2011 AFAF campaign - Commitment to caring

  • Published
The Vance AFB 2011 Air Force Assistance Fund campaign will kick-off Feb. 7 and run through March 18.

The primary objective for this year's campaign is 100 percent contact with eligible contributors and to raise the 71st Flying Training Wing goal of $33,000. The annual AFAF campaign is used to raise funds for four great charities; the Air Force Enlisted Village, the Air Force Village, the LeMay Foundation, and the mostly widely recognized, the Air Force Aid Society. All of these charities focus on taking care of the Air Force family.

The Air Force Aid Society, for the past 67 years, has provided world-wide emergency assistance to Airmen and their families. The money raised for AFAS is used to provide Airmen and their families emergency assistance loans, education grants, and sponsors educational and proactive community programs. In 2010, the Vance family raised more than $37,800 during the AFAF campaign, and Vance Airmen received more than $36,000 in Aid Society assistance in the same year. That's almost a dollar-for-dollar return.

The Air Force Enlisted Village's mission is to provide a home to surviving spouses of retired enlisted Air Force members. The Enlisted Village has been home to more than 1,500 surviving spouses since 1975 and currently provides safe and comfortable housing for 450. Temporary housing is also available to spouses of enlisted members who die or have been killed on active duty.

The Air Force Village is a retirement community dedicated to the care of retired Air Force officers' widows who require financial assistance. They provide a safe, secure and comfortable living environment where widows are surrounded by the friends made during military service.

Since 1970, the Air Force Village has contributed over $12 million in confidential support to indigent widows, providing for their dignity, peace of mind, an honorable lifestyle and long-term health care.

The LeMay Foundation was founded by Air Force Gen. and Mrs. Curtis LeMay. The foundation helps widows of all Air Force retirees, both officer and enlisted, through financial grants. They provide assistance for as long as needed or for specific one-time needs with single disbursements. In 2008, they gave over $445,000 in assistance that benefited 64 women with monthly grants to augment incomes below the poverty line and one-time grants to an additional 23 widows.

For many of the student pilots and young enlisted Airmen at Vance, this is their first exposure to the AFAF. The AFAF is an extraordinary way for Airmen to directly help other Airmen. For those of you who have been help by the AFAF, please get out and share your stories with your fellow Airmen.

Organizing this year's AFAF campaign at Vance are Capts. Todd Gibbs and Matt Zenishek. For more information on the campaign and how to donate to AFAF, contact Captain Gibbs, 213-7372, Captain Zenishek, 213-6713, or any of the key workers listed below.

AFAF key workers

71st Operations Group
Master Sgt. Scott Swain - 213-7323
Airman 1st Class Ricky Rivers - 213-5334
Airman 1st Class Maria Aquilar-Schumann - 213-7967

3rd Fighter Training Squadron
Senior Airman Amber Tuey - 213-5334

5th Flying Training Squadron
Maj. Vernon Duncan - 213-6652

8th Flying Training Squadron
1st Lt. John Little - 213-6340
1st Lt. Andrew Bergman - 213-6340

25th Flying Training Squadron
Capt. Geoffrey Woolf - 213-7982
1st Lt. Alex Prevender - 213-7270

32nd Flying Training Squadron
1st Lt. Alex Pannone - 213-6562
2nd Lt. Russell Reynolds - 213-6562
2nd Lt. Stephanie Roose - 213-5583

33rd Flying Training Squadron
1st Lt. David Mauer - 213-6705

71st Operations Support Squadron
Capt. Daniel Moss - 213-7581
Senior Airman Brandon Gallemore - 213-6668
Senior Airman Joshua Cruazan - 213-6668
Senior Airman Lambert - 213-6668
Airman 1st Class Jerad Robinson - 213-6668

71st Mission Support Group
Master Sgt. Carinae Samsel - 213-7699
Tech. Sgt. Joseph Henson - 213-7240

71st Security Forces Squadron
Tech. Sgt. Bradley Hancock - 213-7147
Staff Sgt. Dennis Sierens - 213-6691

71st Force Support Squadron
Tech. Sgt Bobbie White - 213-1111
Angel Dominguez - 213-7873

71st Logistics Readiness Squadron
Staff Sgt. Matthew Marquardt - 213-7435

71st Communications Squadron
Tech. Sgt. Briana Edson - 213-7501
Airman 1st Class Yenia Ortega-Flores - 213-7171

71st Medical Group
Tech. Sgt. Lorylee Willis - 213-7919
Tech. Sgt. Michael Barton - 213-7783

Wing Staff Agencies
1st Lt. Katherine Roling - 213-7477
Staff Sgt. Darick Alexander - 213-7211