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Holiday cookie frenzy

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. John Gordinier
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Shaw's annual cookie drive was in full gear at the community center Nov. 30 when Col. James Post, 20th Fighter Wing commander, expressed his appreciation to the volunteers from Shaw and the Sumter community during a kick-off ceremony.

The Airman's cookie drive, sponsored by the Enlisted Spouses Club and the Officer and Civilian Spouses Club, received more than 60,000 cookies this year from local community and base volunteers, said Valerie Van der Veer, co-chairman for the OCSC.

The cookies go to a multitude of places on Shaw starting with the Airmen who reside in the dorms, deployed Airmen, the deployed family members' Christmas party, the Airman and Family Readiness Center, the Airman Center, Airman's Attic, as well as all the facilities with people working shift work through the holidays, said Mags Dearduff, co-chairman for the ESC. The cookies will be used for several Christmas events on the base and some will be taken to McEntire Joint National Guard Base in S.C. "The support of the local community has gone above and beyond each and every year to reach out to Shaw," she said.

Jo Anne Morris, who heads up the Sumter Volunteers Inc., has the cookie drive operating like a well-oiled machine, Mrs. Van der Veer said. Schools and churches throughout Sumter dedicated their ovens to baking cookies for the Airmen. Her goal was to shower Shaw with cookies -- and that's what she did.

"I have participated in every cookie drive," Ms. Morris said. "It's my favorite project to do throughout the year. I am so glad that I can give a little something back because Shaw and its Airmen do so much for us."

On top of baking cookies, local students at schools decorated bags that are used to individually package the cookies and the students also made holiday "thank you" cards to put in with each package.

"The base community is also an amazing group of people who volunteered not only cookies, but the time and energy to help make all these events possible," Mrs. Dearduff said.

The Sumter Mayor's office has been actively involved in the cookie campaign since 1993 when Desert Storm was in full operation, Mrs. Dearduff said. The community wanted to do something positive for the troops. They gathered approximately 100 dozen cookies at the request of the former Sumter Mayor, Stephen Creech, and the program has been going strong ever since.

"This program runs off the volunteers in and around Shaw and from the care and concern of others to ensure the men and women who serve our nation are taken care of during the holiday season," Mrs. Dearduff said. "That in itself is an amazing testament to the base, the community it serves and the leadership of this installation."