NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — The annual Feds Feed Families campaign ended here Oct. 2 with over 28,000 pounds of goods collected at Nellis AFB and 184,000 pounds collected throughout Air Combat Command.
Nellis Air Force Base partnered with Three Square Food Bank in Las Vegas to collect and deliver the non-perishable goods to communities all over the United States.
“This year the food drive was split up between the commissary and the military organizations,” said 1st Lt. Keith Van Dyck, 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management Flight commander. “A week into the drive the commissary had already collected and donated about 24,000 pounds of food. We knew our role wasn’t going to be to collect as much as it was to help raise awareness.”
The military organizations at Nellis AFB, not including the commissary, collected over 4,500 pounds of food.
“This year was different than last because they decided to split the commissary from the military organization side,” said Van Dyck. “On the organizational side we are at a disadvantage because the commissary is so good at this. They had little bags out for people to take with them to the check-out. We wanted to raise awareness rather than pester Airmen to donate.”
Feds Feed Families was launched in 2009 as part of the United We Serve campaign put into action by President Barack Obama. Since 2009, the drive has collected approximately 39 million pounds of food to help those who need it.
“For me, the most rewarding part of participating is seeing the end result,” said Tech. Sgt. Michael McGuire, 99th Contracting Squadron contract specialist. “Just seeing the massive collection of goods and knowing that they’re going to families in the local Las Vegas area who need it, especially since we are nearing the holiday season.”
For more information on the Feds Feed Families campaign, visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture website at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=feds-feed-families.