Team XL helps Ninos Navidenos gift giving

Published Dec. 23, 2013
By Joel Langton
47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Laughlin members gave nearly 700 toys to local underprivileged children through local charity Ninos Navidenos at the Del Rio Civic Center Dec. 21.

The organization receives names of children from social workers, schools and shelters who will need a little boost with their Christmas and helps collect toys, ensuring they get a present, or two. All of the children gather at the civic center and are fed dinner and receive their presents. This year, there were nearly 900 children present.

Capt. Greg Show, an instructor pilot in the 85th Flying Training Squadron and the coordinator for the local drive, said Team XL's outpouring of support really stunned him.

"About a week ago, when we were loading my trailer, I went 'wow' when I saw how many toys we had, and it really hit me how generous everyone is," said Show.

The 47th Operations Group spearheaded much of the giving, but Show and his band of helpers received gifts from throughout the base and Del Rio.

According to Claudio Sotelo, one of Ninos Navidenos' founders, Laughlin's gifts were vital to the event's success. "I was really worried until Capt. Show pulled up this morning," said Sotelo. "When I saw the amount of toys he brought us, I knew we'd be okay."

Sotelo, a long-time Laughlin employee who retired in 2006, said he knows how generous the base is.

"Laughlin is a community that knows how to give," he said. "This is the only gift that some of these kids will get, and it is so important that we provide some of them a little Christmas cheer. What's sad, is every year, we have to help out more and more kids."