Laughlin commissary supports food drive campaign

  • Published
  • By Laura Salazar
  • 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Laughlin's commissary is currently advocating a nationwide food drive campaign to help needy families in the local community.

The Feds Feed Families campaign was created by the Defense Commissary Agency to give commissary customers and government employees the opportunity to donate food and hygiene items to the local community's food banks.

"This campaign is a worthy cause. We're trying to encourage other organizations to join in. Food banks across the country are looking slim, so it's going to take everyone's effort and hard work to refill them," said Ruben Gomez, Laughlin's commissary manager.

While shopping for themselves, commissary customers can purchase donations for the food drive. On their way out of the commissary, customers place their contributions in the donation box located near the exit of the commissary.

"This is a very convenient program. You not only shop for yourself, but for other people in need. We're in some difficult financial times and people need a lot more than food to survive," said Chaplain (Maj.) Dwayne Keener, 47th Flying Training Wing chaplain.

The Laughlin chapel will collect donations once a week from the commissary and donate them to Del Rio's Knights of Columbus Council's food pantry. The food pantry will provide up to two weeks of groceries and supplies for anyone in need.

"When I was asked if the chapel could help with the food drive, the question stirred an emotional response within me. Usually, we're asking other organizations to help us, but it was the other way around this time. It was almost overwhelming," said Chaplain Keener.

So far, the commissary has about 225 pounds of donations from commissary customers. Gomez said he hopes to reach a goal of more than 2,000 pounds of donations by the end of the campaign Aug. 31.

"We have a list of the 10 most wanted items at the entrance of the store. We're not just concentrating on food, but also other supplies like paper products and hygiene products. If your heart tells you to drop it in the box, then by all means, drop it in the box," said Gomez.

For additional information on how to help the food drive campaign, please contact Ruben Gomez at (830)298- 5822 or Chaplain Keener at (830) 298-5787.