Warren volunteers: Today’s mentors set example for tomorrow’s leaders

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mike Tryon
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs
F. E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, WYO --  In keeping with the adage and spirit of a popular '90s song stating "children are our future," today's Airmen at Air Force Global Strike Command's "best ICBM wing" take the opportunity to volunteer the local Boys and Girls Club.

With a staff of only 13 people, including bus drivers, it's important that the club has people come and volunteer as often as they do to help mentor the more than 100 children a day who come here, said Rolinda Sample, chief personnel officer at Cheyenne's Boys and Girls Club.

"Over the years we've gotten a lot of support from the military," Mrs. Sample added, "from the Marines donating toys during their annual 'Toys for Tots' campaign, the Guard serving meals to the Air Force members coming in on a regular basis to volunteer."

"I usually try to go at least once or twice a week," said Airman 1st Class Lance Drawdy, 90th Security Forces Squadron. "If my schedule allows it, I try and go more often."

One of the reasons it's so important to have volunteers come and help out, Mrs. Sample added, is because it gives the children here a positive role model to look up to.

"I remember as a kid going to the Boys and Girls Club in Florida where I lived," Airman Drawdy said. "So, I know what great things they do there and how they help the boys and girls of today become the leaders of tomorrow."

Aside from being a positive role model, volunteers get the opportunity to assist the children with their homework, coordinate and play games, and they get a chance to aid in cooking, science or art projects.

"I mostly enjoy helping [them] with their homework and playing games with them," Airman Drawdy said. "But, getting to know the kids is great too, because they are all very interesting and unique. I find volunteering helps make me be a better person and friend."

"It is amazing how much I find myself relating with so many of them," he added. "They remind me of all the crazy things I said and did as a child."

There are Boys and Girls Clubs all throughout the world and many work in conjunction with military installations, Mrs. Sample said.

"We work a lot with the club on base," she added. "We've taken several trips onto the base, where the children get to participate in plays, and they also get a chance to see what the military is about. The club is open to all, and we have many children here who attend Freedom Elementary School."

"The current slogan of the club is 'Great futures start here,'" Mrs. Sample said. "And with the continued support of [military] volunteers, I know future generations are in good hands."

For more information about the Boys and Girls Club here in Cheyenne, visit http://www.bgca.org/Pages/index.aspx, or call 778-6674.