Airman's Attic : a chance to give, receive

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Michelle Vickers
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.-- --  Whether Airmen are starting out on their own and need a few household goods, or a family is looking for a few extra toys for the holiday season, Hurlburt Field's Airman's Attic is there.

The Airman's Attic takes community donations and offers them free of charge to Airmen E-6 and below and their family members including furniture, small appliances, children's clothing and uniform items. But it is always in need of more donations.

"We always need furniture, especially when families are just starting out or Airmen are getting out of the dorms," said Layla Dozier, spouse of Tech. Sgt. Dayne Dozier of 373th Training Squadron and Airman's Attic volunteer. "You can come in here and pretty much set up a household for free [with] dishes, furniture and clothing. Even if you just need to use it for a little while and then you bring it back here to donate, it saves people a lot of money."

Airman's Attic is a service to the base, but can only function with the assistance of volunteers.

"The Airman's Attic is completely run by volunteers; there are no paid positions here," Dozier said. "We get active-duty volunteers from the squadrons and we also have spouse and retired military volunteers. What we do is bring in all the donations from outside, sort things, do the cleaning, do the paperwork. Without volunteers there's no way this place would run."

Active-duty Airmen looking to volunteer should check with their squadron to see if their unit has signed up to man certain weeks. Other volunteers can contact the Airman and Family Readiness Center to be matched up to the Airman's Attic.

"I didn't even know about Airman's Attic until I volunteered for it," said Senior Airman Joshua Collins, a test director of 18th Flight Test Squadron. "It's nice because a lot of Airmen will come in here and not realize how many things are available. If they need uniforms right away and they can't afford to go buy them because Airman pay isn't that much, it helps."

If people would like to drop off donations outside of operating hours, there are drop-off boxes located by the Airman's Attic entrance. If surplus donations come into the Airman's Attic volunteers send the donated items to additional charities off base. In addition to needing assistance in running the shop, Airman's Attic needs volunteer drivers with trucks for furniture pick-ups and deliveries.

"We usually do get more donations as the holidays come around so we can always use a couple extra volunteers for sorting or helping organizing the items, as well as drivers ," Dozier said.

The Airman's Attic is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

For more information, please contact the Airman's Attic at 884-7769.