AFAF charity spotlight: AFAS assists struggling Airmen

  • Published
  • By Meredith March
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The Air Force Assistance Fund campaign, which will continue on Hanscom through April 10, benefits four charities committed to supporting Airmen through difficult times. One of these foundations is the Air Force Aid Society, which helps fund community support programs and provides loans and college scholarships for qualifying servicemembers and their dependents.

Charity spotlight: Air Force Aid Society
The Air Force Aid Society was founded in 1942 by Army Air Force personnel who wanted to help fellow Airmen through difficult times.

The organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., helped provide 45,000 members Air Force-wide with a total of $24.3 million in 2008, according to the Air Force Aid Society's Web site at www.afas.org.

How AFAS helps Hanscom
Locally, the AFAS helps to fund many programs run through the Airman and Family Readiness Center.

In 2008, AFAS provided Hanscom with funds for the following community-based programs: respite care, Give Parents a Break, child care for volunteers, child care for PCS, Car Care Because We Care, Phone Home and Bundles for Babies.

Respite Care provides a break for a few hours per week or month to families with the responsibility of 24-hour care for an ill or disabled family member, said Fran Cusick, Hanscom Air Force Aid Society representative.

Another program which receives funding from AFAS is Give Parents a Break. This program, Mrs. Cusick said, provides four hours of child care for qualifying children enrolled at the Child Development Center, on the third Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

To be considered for this program, personnel should receive a referral from an A&FRC staff member, the chaplain, or their First Sergeant.

"Referrals are based on family crises and stressful situations," Mrs. Cusick said. Referral situations can include a death in the family, deployments or a husband or wife returning home from a long tour. Moving can also cause unwanted stress on a family, Mrs. Cusick said.

Child care for PCS is a program that allows for 20 hours of free child care per child for personnel with orders departing or arriving at Hanscom. The program is open to personnel from all ranks, she said.

The Air Force Aid Society also offers a program, Car Care Because We Care, which provides a free oil change and a 14-point check-up to spouses of active-duty personnel who are deployed for more than 30 days or assigned on a remote tour, and to first-term Airmen who complete a budget with the Personnel Financial Manager at the A&FRC.

Bundles for Babies, an all day workshop for active-duty families, allows expectant parents to meet with registered nurses, the base pediatrician and other base health care providers, Ms. Cusick said. "The parents receive hands-on parenting tips, see presentations on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Shaken Baby Syndrome, and receive a bundle full of baby items. This workshop is offered quarterly."

The AFAS also grants interest-free loans to those who experience unexpected emergencies. "Hanscom provided $48,000 in interest-free loans in 2008," Mrs. Cusick said.

Additionally, the organization offers grants and scholarships to active-duty personnel and their dependants.

"The Hap Arnold Educational Grant provides a $2,000 grant for spouses and children of active-duty military members attending an undergraduate college or an approved vocational or technical school," Ms. Cusick said.

In 2008, Hanscom family members received $36,000 in college grant money. 

In 2008, AFAS provided Hanscom's military personnel and their family members with $90,141 in loans, grants, educational support and community needs programs.

"Giving to the Air Force Assistance Fund allows each of us an opportunity to contribute to the well-being of our Hanscom and Air Force families," said Capt. Patrick Graham, 642nd Electronic Systems Squadron contract manager. "Every donation made to support these causes offers relief and hope to Airmen in all stages in life, despite any challenges they may face."

For more information on the AFAS supported A&FRC programs, call the A&FRC at (781) 377-4222.

(Editor's note: This article is the first in a series highlighting the Air Force Assistance Fund and the charities that it supports.)