Wolf Pack volunteers deliver handmade stockings

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jeff Fowlkes
  • 8th Civil Engineer Squadron
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Korea --  743 boxes postmarked for Jeffrey Fowlkes -- $10,000 in donations.

3,000 handmade stockings -- More than 300 volunteers and countless man-hours.

Every Kunsan Airman receiving a stocking this Christmas - Priceless.

When you receive 743 boxes during the holidays, the post office employees are sure to know your name. Some of the civilians who have been at Kunsan a while have seen it before and had great big smiles on their faces when I arrived to pick them up. Once all the boxes were picked up, I had a mountain of them waiting for their contents to be delivered on Christmas day.

Each summer, Westminster Presbyterian Church volunteers from Lubbock, Texas, sew more than 3,000 Christmas stockings to send to Airmen at Kunsan Air Base. The Stocking Patriots project began in 2007 when the church decided to do a mission project. Over the past five months, the denim stockings were sewn, decorated, and filled with items for Kunsan Airmen.

I'm amazed at the effort that went into this. It took a tremendous amount of planning from people like Dona Nussbaum, the event coordinator, to pull this off. Each stocking was handmade and stuffed with goodies and notes by volunteers wanting to give something back to the troops. Our part was easy for the 20 Wolf Pack volunteers here. We just laid the stockings outside every dorm room early Christmas morning. It was the least we could do to finish what the volunteers back in Lubbock started. I know we had as much fun handing them out as they did making them. I want to thank each and every volunteer from Lubbock and Kunsan who made this a success.

Dona and I have talked many times over the past few months. She has shared the great stories from the volunteers who participated in this event to include those of children, families and veterans. Now, I get the chance to share some of our stories with her - please contact me if you would like to share. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!