LRS volunteers spread holiday cheer across Okinawa

  • Published
  • By Allan Bourbina
  • 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Members of the 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron descended upon local elders and children's homes to spread some holiday cheer the week before Christmas.

About 40 volunteers served cake, snacks, drinks, and performed holiday songs for the children of the Ishimine Children's Home Dec. 18. Each child received a goodie bag and the volunteers presented 30 toys for all the children to share.

Also Dec. 18, on Iejima island, located a few miles off of Okinawa's Motobu peninsula, a small team of volunteers surprised 60 elderly residents with individual boxes of baked goods and holiday candy. Twenty of the permanent residents received an individual lap blanket while the 45 members of the staff also received holiday treats. The team participated in the home's holiday festivities and one brave member of the team brought his guitar and sang a a song in Japanese for the crowd.

Tuesday, the LRS team spread some additional holiday cheer from a distance, to a children's home on Ishigaki island located about 600 miles south of Okinawa.

Volunteers gathered monetary donations from LRS personnel to purchase gifts for the 40 children who reside at the home. Although the distance hampered the volunteers' attempt to deliver the goods in person, these holiday gifts were sent via mail.