Airmen spend time with seniors Published April 23, 2010 By Airman 1st Class Jennifer Viveiros 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Several Warren members spent the afternoon visiting the residents of Cheyenne Life Care Center on April 7. Capt. Andrew Downey, 90th Missile Wing Command Post, came up with the idea and rallied Airmen to join him. "The reason I ended up doing this, was because my wife Suzie works at Cheyenne Life Care," he said. "And she told me how many senior citizens are not visited very often." Captain Downey said the people who live there said they appreciate the company of service members. "So, I made a recommendation to do some type of outreach and have military members give back by going out, volunteering an hour and talking to them," he said. "I also wanted to give [the senior citizens] some token or representation of the Air Force, so I bought 200 little American flags to be handed out," he added. Captain Downey said his mission was to simply gather as many military members in uniform as possible, and have them to go out for an hour, talk and hand out flags. Chief Master Sgt. Marty Anderson, 90th Missile Wing command chief, greatly encouraged Airmen to attend this event. "It is very important for us as Air Force members to support our local community no matter where we are stationed," Chief Anderson said. "We need to show our appreciation by giving our time and effort to positively contribute to the community's pride and heritage." Airman 1st Class Jennifer Dowling, 90th Civil Engineer Squadron, said she was moved from her experience at Cheyenne Life Care. "I spoke with several people who really just wanted to talk about life, where they have been in life and what they have learned," she said. "There were two women who really touched me," she added. "Their names were Pauline and Alice. "They were both so sweet and just wanted to share what they had learned in their life with the next generation. I gave them both hugs when I left and told them I would see them again sometime." Airman Dowling said she plans to visit Alice, Pauline and the other residents on a regular basis. "Thanks to this experience, I took a volunteer form on my way out so that I could go back and share some stories and smiles," she said. "This was a great experience." Captain Downey said he was really appreciative of those who came out, and he plans to organize future trips for base members to visit the center. For more information about volunteering at Cheyenne Life Care Center, call Captain Downey at 773-3921.