Vance sends love to deployed troops

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amanda Mills
  • Public Affairs
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  Team Vance volunteers filled the family support center conference room Wednesday to send love and goodies to deployed military members.
Operation Cookie Cutter prepared 20 packages with cookies, stockings, letters and videos to send overseas, according to Terri Presa, family support center and event coordinator.
The operation relies mostly on donations and volunteers, but has continued to be a success for 12 years, she said.
"Everyone was really generous this year," Ms. Presa said. Cookies and potato chip cans, to package the cookies, filled the family support center long before they were due to the volunteers who arrived to box them Wednesday.
A letter from Col. Bryan Benson, 71st Flying Training Wing commander, and letters and pictures from children at Eisenhower Elementary School accompanied the sweets.
Two new treats were also added to the packages this year, Ms. Presa said.
"The enlisted spouses group donated handmade stockings filled with goodies to the operation," she said. "Some families also created videotapes at the recommendation of Col. Bryan Benson (71st Flying Training Wing commander) to add to their deployed spouse's box."
These packages send deployed members goodies and love, letting them know their Vance family is thinking of them during the holidays, Ms. Presa said.
"It also shows them we appreciate what they're doing overseas and their efforts to protect us," she said.
Staff Sgt. Bobbie Foley, 71st Communications Squadron, helped prepare boxes during the operation.
"This is just something I can do to show our deployed members my support," she said. "I know that if I were over there, these packages would really make the holiday better for me, so I enjoy helping them get some love from home."
Ms. Presa thanked everyone who donated cookies, cans and their time to the operation. Treats were plentiful, but anything unable to make it into the boxes will be passed on to the dorm Airmen cookie donations.
"This really was all a group effort. It just goes to show that beneath the hustle and bustle of the season, Team Vance made the time to give these gifts right from the heart," she said.