Operation Homefront provides free toys to military families

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jessica Cendana
  • 512th Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  As part of Operation Homefront, hundreds of Dover Air Force Base reservists received free toys and stocking stuffers for their children Dec. 3-4 at the base theater.

Operation Homefront, a nonprofit organization that focuses on providing support to American military personnel and their families, teams up each year with a national dollar-store chain to provide military families with toys, ranging from popular cartoon characters, dolls and action figures to puzzles, games and more. Volunteers pick up donations, deliver them to various bases and pass them out to military families.

Reserve members with the 512th Airmen & Family Readiness Office and Key Spouse volunteers collaborated with Operation Homefront to make this possible, contributing to the nonprofit's $6 million national goal.

"Having this resource provided during this time of the year relieves a bit of stress for military families," said Master Sgt. Laura Coseglia, 512th A&FR director.

The December Unit Training Assembly commander's call provided the perfect forum to make the toys available to 512th Airlift Wing reservists.

"As military families, we always appreciate additional support from the community," said Tech. Sgt. Ivan Kobets, 512th A&FR technician. "The support of the community, charitable organizations and volunteer programs throughout the year is crucial to boosting the morale of military members."

Master Sgt. Gary Porter, 512th Maintenance Squadron lead avionics technician, was able to pick up a few stocking stuffers for some of his eight grandchildren.

"It was very convenient and such a nice surprise to have that available to us at the end of the commander's call," said Porter. "Knowing that there are organizations out there which provide things like this for us military folks, shows us we are noticed and valued."

In 2010, Operation Homefront met the needs of more than 400,000 military families, including active duty, Guard and Reserve members from all branches of service. Since its inception in February 2002, Operation Homefront has provided more than $92 million dollars of funding toward programs that benefit military families. For more information on Operation Homefront, please visit www.operationhomefront.net.