Hurlburt's Feds Feed Families tops goal

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Michelle Vickers
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  Hurlburt Field wrapped up the Feds Feed Families food drive at the base commissary Aug. 24.

This year's food drive built on last year's success by collecting 6,231.13 pounds of goods donated by the base community.

"Last year, Hurlburt Field donated 3,500 pounds," said Airman 1st Class Rayna Yamamoto, a computer security accountant technician of 1st Special Operation Communications Squadron and base point of contact for the campaign. "Most of the donations came from the last week of the campaign. This year, we almost doubled the amount and Hurlburt Field consistently donated items throughout the length of the campaign."

The base far exceeded their goal of collecting 2,500 pounds of goods with a variety of donations including soup, tuna, vegetables, cereal, rice and even dog food. The commissary served as the drop-off point for donations.

"Additionally, we put together donation bags that contained food products designed to create family meals," said Jack Spence, director of the Hurlburt Field commissary. "Each bag sold for $10, and there were seven different varieties of bags sold including one for pets."

Over 300 of the commissary's premade donation bags were sold during the campaign. All of the donations were taken to a local food bank and domestic violence shelter.

"The first seven weeks Hurlburt Field donated 3,454 pounds to the Bay Area Food Bank, Yamamoto said. "Ms. Tammy Ward, the food bank's external relations manager, reported this would feed a total of 2,657 meals. They used the donations for disaster relief, to distribute to other agencies in Okaloosa County like the summer food service program and other nutrition programs. The last week of donations, a total of 2,777 pounds, went to a domestic violence shelter that will be using their donations to feed about 89 families."

As a result of the food drive, the leading unit that contributed was rewarded with a half-day pass. The winning unit, the 18th Flight Test Squadron, donated 1,032.71 pounds proving even a small number of people can make a difference.

"When we first told the squadrons about the prize, they would say well we do not have very many people," Yamamoto said. "The 18th FLTS has about 50 people, and they won."

Feds Feed Families is a Department of Defense-wide campaign established to collect non-perishable food for families in need in the local area. The national goal for this year is 1.5 million pounds.