52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SPANGDAGLEM AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) -- An article and inspiration is all that it took to get the ball rolling, actually 106 soccer balls, to equip Iraqi children with grade-school memories.

In a three-week long donation drive, the Team Eifel community donated more than 645 school supplies, toys and other goodies for the children of Kirkuk. Members of the 52nd Logistics Readiness Squadron teamed together with deployed co-workers and put out the donation call at Spangdahlem Air Base from mid-April to early May to help keep grade-school students equipped for learning.

“The program worked great; we collected everything we wanted. We have all the crayons, scissors, paper and other school supplies we asked for, and although we didn’t request toys, we’re sure the children will enjoy those as well,” said Senior Master Sgt. Rick Shaner, 52nd LRS vehicle operations superintendent.

When all the packing was done, the 52nd LRS shipped 23 boxes of goodies, including assorted packages of snacks donated by the Spangdahlem AB and Bitburg Annex commissaries.

The most surprising of the donations were extra-large trash bags full of soccer balls donated by Hans-Josef Krischel, 52nd LRS vehicle operator, and about 100 other 52nd Fighter Wing German national employees.

“I remember very well when I was a little boy what it meant to have a soccer ball,” said Mr. Krischel. “If you had one, you were somebody, so I think these children in Iraq not only will play with the balls, but will also remember who sent them. And, it’s a lot better for children to play with balls rather than guns.”

An article in the deployed newsletter, “KRAB Kronicle,” about the ongoing school supply drives inspired Tech. Sgt. Michael Nurse, deployed 52nd LRS member serving at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, to put out the call back home.

Donation distribution takes place continually at Kirkuk AB through “Operation Crayon,” an ongoing charitable distribution program operated by U.S. Army patrols, the civilian affairs office and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers task force Restore Iraqi Oil. The program reaches out to more than 2,000 students of seven Northern Iraqi schools.

To ensure the Children of Kirkuk program’s success at Spangdahlem AB, Sergeant Shaner, the home-base program coordinator, had to do a bit of homework himself.

“The whole process took me about two days to complete and was fairly easy,” Sergeant Shaner said.

The first step for the senior NCO was to clear the program through the base legal office. From there, he visited George Price, the 52nd Services Squadron special programs coordinator, for guidance and advice.

“I found out that we had to be careful not to compete with the Air Force Assistance Fund for monetary donations, so we kept the request limited to actual school supplies,” said Sergeant Shaner. “Mr. Price also had some excellent ideas and recommendations I used to get the word out.”

“Thanks to everyone that helped out and especially to those who contributed to this very worthy cause,” said Sergeant Shaner.
 

-- USAFENS --