Low cost, high return: 20th FW deployed family dinner

Published Jan. 28, 2014
By Airman 1st Class Jonathan Bass
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The 20th Fighter Wing Chapel held their monthly deployed family dinner here, Jan. 27.

The dinner fed approximately 274 family members of deployed Shaw Airmen.

These dinners serve as a time for deployed Airmens' families to get to know each other, as well as their key spouses and commanders, said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Richard Fitzgerald, 20th FW wing chaplain.

"I think the number one benefit is the synergy that it creates between the deployed families and a great sense of community," said Fitzgerald.

"With the deployed family dinner, it's great because you make family connections across different families, across different units; you get to feed the kids, and the churches in the community come together," said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ellison, 20th FW chaplains assistant.

"It creates a forum where leaders can quickly go in and identify the families from their squadrons, walk to those tables and face to face ask, 'how are you?'," said Fitzgerald.

The dinners have grown from some 50 people meeting in the Palmetto Chapel Annex to almost 300 filling up the conference room at the Carolina Skies Club and Conference Center.

"It grows and grows," said Fitzgerald. "We're setting records almost every month. We outgrew the chapel annex, now we're almost to the point of outgrowing the club."

"It seems like every single time we have at least one or two individuals come up to us and let us know how much it meant to them," said Ellison. "Sometimes people just need community like this."

With more and more people attending the dinners, the chapel has had to adapt and overcome challenges presented to them.

"We have a good problem at the chapel," said Fitzgerald. "The good problem is that many of our programs are so popular and so well supported that we've outgrown our chapel facility. Almost everything the chapel touches turns to gold, which is precious to achieving the mission."

"This is actually the third one I've been a part of," said Ellison. "Being in the reserves, it's sometimes to where I'm only here so often, but it's great when I'm here and it happens because you get to experience the community."

The chapel has been running the deployed family dinner for 12 years; 10 at the chapel annex and then for the last two years at the club, said Fitzgerald.

"The model we're moving towards, not just for the chaplaincy, but for all the military is to network more with the local community," said Fitzgerald. "This is a prime example of that; we network with local faith communities, and it's a win-win. They come in and provide the food and support and we thank them, appreciate them, and they get the chance to minister and meet military people."

This month's dinner was provided by the Korean Presbyterian Church in Sumter, S.C.

Any faith community can participate in the dinner, said Fitzgerald.

"The group that's sponsoring next month is here this month to see how it operates, so that we have good continuity," said Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald credits the base leadership, both past and present with the growing success of the program.

"I think that comes from a sense of teamwork, not only at the chapel, but at the base," said Fitzgerald. "The leadership of the base responding to the needs of our Airmen and their families; I think Col. Moore, followed by Col. Hall, leading the wing have been very supportive and so has the club. They allow us to use this facility on Mondays when the club is normally closed."

The quality of our Airmen also assists in the success of this part of the chapel and wing's mission, said Fitzgerald.

"In the last two years, we've had some incredible volunteers," said Fitzgerald. "They know for their packages to be promoted, and for their own character development, that volunteering is important, so we have hundreds of Airmen a year volunteer.

Despite all of the good that comes with the dinners, it isn't just rainbows and sunshine that keep them going.

"We fight to keep this going," said Fitzgerald. "Everyone on the base, even the chaplain corps, is struggling with funding flows. This is a primary example of how we're creative to allow something good to happen that has a low cost to the military community and a high return."