Kadena cashes in on community involvement

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Rey Ramon
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AB, Japan --  Airmen and families from Kadena Air Base dressed in Halloween costumes visited disabled children from the Okinawa Children Development Center for the first time Oct. 27. 

The Kadena volunteers joined 50 physically disabled Okinawan children in a musical chair skit and gave them an opportunity to 'trick or treat' by bringing candy along. 

"One of the important things is to ensure we leave Kadena in a better situation than we received it," said Master Sgt. Marvin Parker, 31st and 33rd Rescue Squadron first sergeant. 

Kadena's volunteers make a positive contribution to the local community when they support these types of initiatives. 

"This ground-breaking opportunity helps strengthen community relations with the different military branches at Kadena," said Patricia Miyagi, 18th Wing Public Affairs community relations specialist. 

For some of the volunteers this opportunity was personally rewarding. 

"When I heard it was for disabled kids, I just wanted to show my love to them," said Staff Sgt. Julie Anzo, 17th Special Operations Squadron, aviation resource manager. "This is a great opportunity to help and serve." 

Okinawans generally do not participate in Halloween, so this was a chance to show them a part of American culture and give something back to the community, said Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Stull, 372nd Training Squadron, Detachment 15, instructor. 

"So many of us go outside to gate 2 and down to Naha and all we do when we are out there is make withdrawals from the account which I refer to as the 'community bank,'" said Sergeant Parker. "We make these withdrawals through our behaviors and our actions outside the gate, so this is one of the many opportunities that we get as Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines to actually make a positive contribution into the account." 

Some of the children showed their appreciation for the visit by openly thanking the volunteers. 

"That to me is all we need to hear because it tells me they have appreciated what we've done for them," said Sergeant Parker. "They left the door open for us to come back to do it again, and that's exactly what we plan to do."