“Feds Feeding Families” is a great success Published Sept. 8, 2011 By 2nd Lt. James Ramirez 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Laughlin commissary held the nationwide Defense Commissary Agency event entitled "Feds feeding families" here from June 26 through Aug. 31. The event was started by DeCA due to the demonstrated need from food banks across the country, which had their food supplies completely depleted on a regular basis from increased need. "Being that it was the first time that we have ever done it at this Laughlin commissary, I set a goal of 1,000 pounds," said Reuben Gomez, commissary manager. To Gomez's surprise, the Laughlin community showed strong support from various on-base organizations and agencies as well as donations at the commissary itself. "We actually collected 1,838 pounds," he said. Once the food items had been collected and accounted for, the First Baptist Church was entrusted with the job of distributing the food to the Del Rio community. The church holds a food drive operated through the South Texas Food Bank, which Laughlin Airmen support on a weekly basis. Gisela Lenz at the First Baptist Church runs the weekly food drive, which she said could not happen without Laughlin's very own, but she also handled issuing of all food for the "Feds Feeding Families" event. "As of last week she (Lenz) reported that we have helped 77 families with 202 total individuals, and we still need the final report from late August so the numbers can only go up," said Gomez. Lenz commented that Laughlin "has a heart that loves to help our community." She urges all airmen to come to the First Baptist Church's weekly food drive and to call 830-719-0122 for more information. Gomez hopes that his superiors will see how much of a success this event was and hold another sometime in the future. "I can't tell you how grateful I am that the base came through like this, I can only hope that this will become an annual event," he said.