Building bands together to help Afghan kids Published June 15, 2007 By Corey Dahl 21st Space Wing Public Affairs PETERSON AFB, Colo. -- What can one building of Peterson employees do for a country of needy children in just two days? As it turns out, a lot. After an Airman deployed to Bagram asked for their help, the servicemembers and staff in Building 2025 collected hundreds of toys and clothing items for Afghan children over a period of two days in May. The gently-used and new donations filled the building's loading dock and overwhelmed the supply drive's organizers, who said they had expected to ship just a couple of boxes to their colleague. "They just kept coming and coming," said Staff Sgt. Thomas Moore, who helped organize the drive with members of the 850th Electronic Systems Group and the Space Logistics Group. "We had considerably more than we were expecting. It was just incredible, awe-inspiring." The groups decided to organize the drive after receiving an e-mail from Staff Sgt. Lester Frye, who recently deployed from Peterson to Bagram. Sergeant Frye told his colleagues, who were eager to send him care packages, to instead ship donations for the Afghan children. "I'm absolutely astonished to see this level of poverty," he wrote in an e-mail. "These kids have nothing. They'll wad up a dusty canvas bag to use as a ball." So Sergeant Frye's colleagues posted flyers around their building, asking for whatever anyone could manage to bring in following the Memorial Day weekend. After just two days, the results were amazing - but not altogether surprising, Sergeant Moore said. "It's just this building," he said. "We raised $1,200 after Katrina; we're consistently the primary source of teddy bears for the Teddy Bears for Kids project. Anytime this building is asked to pitch in for anything, there's just a tremendous outpouring of love." Maybe a little too much love. The organizers' challenge now is getting all of the goods to Afghanistan, where they will be distributed through the Army's public affairs office there. Privately shipping the boxes, which the organizers' estimate weigh about 1,000 pounds, will cost more than $8,000. To pay for the cost, the groups are working on securing donations from a number of charitable and military organizations as well as collecting donations from people on base. So far, they've only raised about $200, but they're determined to get their donations to the kids - no matter the cost or time involved, Sergeant Moore said. "As we get the money, we'll ship the boxes," he said. "If that means it takes a year to ship it there, then it takes a year to ship it there." (To help Building 2025 fund shipping for their donations to Afghan kids, contact Staff Sgt. Cassandra Hanak at 556-5604 or Tech. Sgt. Michelle Houchin at 556-2483.) Comment on this story.