Field Reports
By Col. Chris Giaimo, USAF-Ret., Director, and Col. Jim Pauls, USAF-Ret., Council and Chapter Affairs, and Kris Ann Hegle

Peach Brigade Helps the Needy

They call themselves the “peach brigade,” and during the past 23 years, they’ve collected and distributed more than 350 tons of peaches to retirement centers, nursing homes, state mental health facilities, and other organizations in the Augusta, Ga., and western central South Carolina area.

Late Augusta (Ga.) Chapter member Col. Maurice Rice, USA, who passed away Sept. 3, 2004, started the peach brigade after he retired from the service and began working as a John Deere Tractor dealer in Aiken, S.C.

“We’re really going to miss Maury,” says Augusta Chapter President Col. William Mannel, USAR-Ret., a member of the peach brigade. “He was a great guy and a great chapter member.” Sixty chapter members served as honorary pall bearers at Rice’s viewing.

Rice’s job with the tractor dealer put him in close contact with many peach growers, and he was surprised to see how many good peaches were going to waste. He asked one grower if he could pick the peaches left on the trees after the pickers went through the orchards so he could distribute them to area handicapped, elderly, and needy citizens. Rice and his son picked a couple of baskets, but found it was too much work. Undeterred, Rice went back to the growers, who suggested he work on the cull line at their processing facilities so he could collect those peaches that weren’t selected for distribution. Rice enlisted the help of his fellow chapter members and members of the community and the peach brigade was born.

During harvest season, which runs from April to September, members of the peach brigade glean as many good peaches as they can. The peaches are put in crates and transported to their final destinations. This year, members distributed more than 70,000 pounds of peaches to 24 nursing homes, food service organizations, and continuing care retirement communities.

“This is not easy work,” says Mannel, who says continuing the peach brigade will be difficult without Rice. “After two hours on the lines, you develop a lot of upper body muscle and mostly aches and pains. But the thrill of seeing these older citizens enjoying this healthy fruit gives new meaning to the word ‘service.’ ”

Florida Members ‘Stuff the Bus’

How did a 235-member chapter manage to motivate its members, whose average age is 75, to stand in several scorching hot parking lots this summer and collect school supplies and monetary donations?

“We gave them a project they could get behind,” says Col. Lamar Hunt, USA-Ret., past president of the Kingdom of the Sun Chapter in Ocala, Fla., and chairperson of Operation Stuff the Bus.

Hunt, a former Army chaplain, helped found Operation Stuff the Bus three years ago during a brainstorming session between local school board members, county officials, and community leaders. The group was discussing ways to help homeless and needy children in the Marion County, Fla., area, when the district’s homeless liaison said she wished they could just take a bunch of school buses and stuff them with school supplies. Hunt told her to stop right there, and Operation Stuff the Bus was born.
More than 60 chapter members and ladies auxiliary members volunteered to help with this year’s effort, which spanned five consecutive weekends in July and August. The Marion County school district donated several school buses and drivers, which were parked outside Wal-Mart stores throughout the area. Volunteers challenged shoppers to “stuff the bus” with school supplies and other much-needed items. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church youth groups, sheriff’s cadets, and Civil Air Patrol cadets aided in the effort by passing out flyers that listed the needed goods. People who purchased items were directed to the buses, which served as collection points.

In this year’s effort, chapter members collected a total of $34,145 in cash and merchandise. In 2003, members collected $22,000 in cash and merchandise, doubling the amount they raised the first year.

“Everyone who touches this project gets something out of it,” says President Lt. Col. Robert Bealle, USAF-Ret. “It’s fired up our organization.”

Members of the Kingdom of the Sun Chapter are involved in other community service projects as well. Every quarter, they participate in a ceremony honoring deceased veterans who lived in Marion County, and they also are looking to use Operation Stuff the Bus’ name recognition. On Oct. 2, the chapter will launch Operation Stuff the Deuce-and-a-Half, which will ask area shoppers to fill a military two-and-a-half ton truck with food and supplies for homeless and needy veterans.

Junior ROTC Scholarships Awarded

Members of the Coronado Chapter in Sierra Vista, Ariz., showed their support for area students recently when they presented an MOAA medal and two college scholarships totaling $4,000 to three outstanding local Junior ROTC (JROTC) students. The students, who participate in a JROTC unit supported by the chapter at Buena Vista High School in Sierra Vista, were feted at the chapter’s annual awards and dinner meeting. Cadet Sgt. Maj. Gabriel Young Brewer received the MOAA medal, and Cadet 1st Lt. Justin Nixon was given a $1,000 college scholarship. Cadet Lt. Col. Jennifer Darrow received a $3,000 college scholarship.

“The Coronado Chapter is proud to recognize the achievements of these exceptional young Sierra Vista students and is honored that they applied to our organization to be considered for these awards,” says Col. Gary Kosmider, USA-Ret., who chairs the scholarship committee.

The 217 chapter members fund their scholarship program through raffles held at monthly dinner meetings. Recently Lt. Col. Howard Jenssen, USAF-Ret., who sits on the chapter’s board of directors, began exploring other fundraising methods, and the chapter formed a business relationship with Watkins Inc., a Minnesota-based company that produces kitchen, bed, bath, and other assorted products that can be ordered via the Internet. Depending on the monthly sales volume, the chapter could receive between 19 percent and 30 percent of gross sales. Members plan to use the money to support chapter-sponsored programs and projects.

Chapter members also have started a committee that is working to recruit more active duty military members who are stationed at nearby Fort Huachuca, Ariz. According to President Col. Lanny Kope, USMC-Ret., the chapter plans to start holding luncheon meetings on the base that will allow more active duty servicemembers to participate in the chapter.

News Anchor Visits Contra Costa (Calif.) Chapter

More than 70 members of the Contra Costa (Calif.) Chapter and their families turned out to hear Mark Curtis, a news anchor from KTVU Channel 2 in Oakland, Calif., talk about the upcoming presidential election during a recent chapter meeting. Curtis befriended chapter members approximately 21/2 years ago after he invited First Vice President Rear Adm. Russell Gorman, USNR-Ret., to come on the station and give a commentary about the impending war in Iraq. Gorman agreed, and Curtis has maintained a relationship with the chapter and has spoken at several meetings.

Members also had an opportunity to visit with Col. John Loughran III, USAFR-Ret., member of national MOAA’s Board of Directors. Loughran, who lives in San Rafael, Calif., visits the chapter on a regular basis, and members look forward to hearing his legislative updates.

During the meeting, members awarded MOAA medals, certificates, and checks for $100 to four outstanding students who participate in two area high school Junior ROTC programs. In addition, the 210-member chapter supports students who participate in Army, Navy, and Air Force ROTC units at the University of California-Berkeley.

The Contra Costa Chapter also supports students through its scholarship program. During their annual picnic, members presented four college-bound students who are the children of chapter members with $800 scholarships.

Currently, chapter President Capt. Lee Rosenberg, USN, is working to increase membership. Rosenberg, who is on active duty, says he joined the chapter because there isn’t a large military presence in the San Francisco Bay area, and he missed the camaraderie. Joining the chapter also has helped him keep abreast of pending legislation affecting servicemembers’ benefits and entitlements. Now in his third year, Rosenberg credits his fellow members for allowing him to participate fully in the chapter.

“The support I’ve received from the chapter’s board of directors has made it possible for me to serve as president,” Rosenberg says. “I couldn’t do this job if I didn’t have their help.”