Spreading Holiday Cheer: Supporting Our Military Families at Fairchild Air Force Base

The holidays bring many opportunities for each of us to count our blessings and remember that being with family and friends, feeling loved and appreciated, is truly a gift. Our military families are not able to be “home” for the holidays very often, and unless you have a family member in the military, bringing holiday spirit and cheer to them is not something that many civilians think about.

One of our alumni members, Susan Joseph Nielsen, is the Honorary Commander with the 22nd Air Task Force stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. Part of Susan’s role is to bridge communications between this wing and the community, helping them engage with local resources, suggesting places and activities that might interest them and their families, and providing support and advocacy for the 100 active airmen and women and personnel in this wing. More than 95% of these airmen and women are not from the Pacific Northwest and do not have family near Fairchild Air Force Base. They live on the base in housing or in surrounding communities, with some single airmen and women residing in dormitory housing on the base.

Susan has been working closely with the 22nd Air Task Force leadership to plan a series of holiday wrap-around events to ensure everyone serving in this wing feels cared for and appreciated. The current government shutdown, furloughs, and budget impacts to all military families have only compounded existing challenges these families and individuals face. There has also been a dramatic increase in visits to the base Food Pantry. Susan is volunteering at the Food Pantry and can deliver your food donations to the base. If your business would like to coordinate a food drive, Susan can connect you with the base contact to make arrangements.

Susan’s goal is to let every person in the wing know they are appreciated and thought about during the holidays. If you’d like to help, here are a few projects to consider:

Holiday Card Signing Event: Join us on Sunday, Nov. 2, from 2-5 p.m. at Ashlee Cribb’s home (see Events to RSVP). Susan will provide cards, pens, stickers, and inspiring messages to write. Our goal is to create a personalized card for each person or family (about 100) to express our gratitude for their service and their role in keeping our world safe.

•  Book Donations for Holiday Party: We are collecting new children’s and adult books to distribute at a family holiday gathering in December. Santa and Mrs. Claus will provide a book for each child and adult at the event. If you’d like to donate a book, please contact Susan Nielsen to arrange pickup. All books must be delivered to Susan by December 3.

•  Auction Baskets and Door Prizes: Susan is gathering items for auction baskets and door prizes for a December 12 event. Ideas include food and beverage items (snacks, wine, beer, cuisine), experiences (movie or entertainment tickets, bowling, sporting events, golf items, restaurant gift certificates, Starbucks, Thomas Hammer, or Cravens gift cards, ski lift tickets, symphony, comedy club, or live theater tickets, indoor or outdoor activities like Flight 509, Flatstick Pub, Dave & Busters, virtual golf, cooking classes, Numerica Skating Ribbon, hockey, basketball, or baseball tickets, axe throwing, etc.). Use your imagination to come up with fun items you’d like to win in a raffle or auction. Susan is also creating a food and wine-themed basket. All donations for baskets or door prizes must be delivered to Susan by December 7 to allow time for assembly and descriptions.

Thank you for considering helping out with any of these projects. Your generosity will ensure the families and individual airmen and women at Fairchild Air Force Base feel our community’s support and appreciation!

If you have any questions about these activities or how you can help, reach out to Susan Nielsen at 509.991.9151 or susan@strategicniche.com.