10 years later: Angel Tree still giving

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Randahl J. Jenson
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

For the last 10 years, volunteers from the 28th Operations Group have worked with Santa and Mrs. Clause to deliver gifts during the holiday season to children in the Youth & Family Services program in Rapid City, S.D.

This year, Airmen and volunteers from the local U.S. Postal Service delivered more than 250 gifts to children enrolled in Y&FS, Dec. 14, 2016.

“A lot of our Airmen are away from home for the holidays, and this is a great opportunity for them to engage with the Rapid City community,” said Lt. Col. Tom Bowman, the 28th Operation Support Squadron commander. “We have hundreds of Airmen that have presented gifts for the Angel Tree project this year.”

The children, often mistaking the troops for “Soldiers,” asked the uniform-wearing volunteers many questions—including why they were there helping Santa.

“I love Christmas—the joy it brings, the community and especially seeing the kids’ faces’ light up,” said Senior Airman Andrew Gonzalez, a 28th OSS aircrew flight equipment technician. “I [volunteered] just so I could know that I had first-hand experience making their lives happier.”

It took months of planning and effort between Y&FS and 28th OG Airmen before Santa could arrive and presents be distributed.

“Behind the scenes, we were gathering names for all the kids—updating [the list] week-to-week to make sure we had every single kid,” Gonzalez said. “Then we started gathering support throughout the Operations Squadron. We were getting gifts donated to us as well as buying some gifts ourselves.”

After they gathered the gifts and made sure there were enough for every child, they coordinated the distribution with Santa.

Darcie Decker, the community outreach director for Y&FS, said she had been working with Airmen from the 28th OG and volunteers from the Postal Service to make Christmas extra special for the children.

“It’s exciting for the kids to meet Santa,” Decker said. “Every child [here] is just delighted to meet Santa and be able to sit on his lap and get a present directly from Santa.”

After Santa’s initial appearance inside the Y&FS center, he visited individual classrooms to personally deliver a gift to each child and take a picture with them.  

“We appreciate Ellsworth AFB and the [U.S. Postal Service] who are making a difference and bringing hope, encouragement, smiles and laughter to the children here,” Decker said. “You’re making a difference in these people’s lives.”