Cookie Crunch brings taste of home to Airmen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lauren-Taylor Garcia
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The sweet smell of holiday cookies fill the air during Operation Cookie Crunch at the Yukon Club Dec. 6, 2012, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.

The annual event brings the community together to collect and distribute homemade holiday cookies to single and unaccompanied Airmen -- a reminder that even though one's family may not be with them during the holidays, they are never truly alone.

For the past two years, Felicia Russell and Eva Manes, Officer Spouse Club members and 2012 Cookie Crunch coordinators, have hosted the program here.

"This is fun; we enjoy this because we get lots of comments back from the Airmen saying it was nice to have home-baked items coming from different families," said Russell.

Drop-off began Dec. 3, and continued into the early morning Dec. 6, where the volunteers bundled and decorated cookie bags for the Airmen.

This year, Operation Cookie Crunch had a total of 30 volunteers who bagged a variety of cookies totaling more than 6,600.

"It's very rewarding and we believe that the Airmen enjoy it," said Manes. "It is a little taste of home. The one thing we always miss is home-baked goodies and this is just our way of giving back to them."

Senior Airman Denelle Craig, 18th Aggressor Squadron aviation resource manager, has helped bag cookies for the program for two years now. She is also one of the many unaccompanied Airmen benefiting from the event.

"It's just fun; It's a down-played environment," said Craig. "Even though there is a lot of different ranks here, you don't see ranks -- you just see people who want to help."

Once all of the cookies were packaged, first sergeants from across the wing picked up dozens of boxes filled with treats to distribute to their Airmen.

"It's just nice to have homemade cookies and I love how the first sergeants leave the bags of cookies on our beds; it's pretty cool," said Craig.

And that is the way the cookie crumbles here at Eielson: with smiles all around for the Airmen who received a taste of home away from home courtesy of their Eielson family.