Airman collects gifts for hospitalized children

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Anthony Jennings
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  What began as a simple toy drive for children in need spawned an overwhelming donation due to the efforts of one Airman from the 96th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

Airman 1st Class Kierre Brannan, material management journeyman, collected almost $8,000 worth of toys, board games and books to be donated to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. St. Jude is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

The idea for the donation effort began in October 2009 as a Christmas drive. With help from her first sergeant, Senior Master Sgt. Cynthia Ingram, she spread the word to her squadron. After an underwhelming initial response, the drive was delayed until after the holidays.

"We wanted to give people more time to focus on their families," said Airman Brannan, a native of Nashville, Tenn., "so we decided to postpone it so maybe people could hit the after-Christmas sales."

The decision turned out to be better than she expected as she was soon overwhelmed with donations and gifts from her squadron.

"After Christmas I received so much stuff," said the Airman who also ensures Team Eglin gets the supplies they need when they need it. "It all came so fast. I had to use a storage facility from dorm management to keep it all."

Gifts included: gaming consoles and accessories, decks of cards, puzzles, dolls, books, remote control cars, educational DVDs, and crayons just to name a few.

The vast amount of donations, however, presented another issue - how to get the toys to the kids.

"When I first started out, I'd keep a tally of what I had then send it out box by box," she said. "By the end of January, I had about $5,000 worth of stuff just waiting to be shipped out."

She has shipped more than 30 boxes individually already. Through monetary donations and her own money, she was able to ship all but $1,000 worth of gifts so far.

The gifts are sent to the Non-Monetary Gift Program section of the hospital where they are sorted and distributed to children of every age.

Vilma Carnahan, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital non-monetary gifts program coordinator, described the children's reaction to the gifts as joyous.

"Any time the children receive a gift,  even if it's just a pencil, they are appreciative," she said. "As an institution, we're here to save lives, but we also have to meet our patient's needs emotionally and it helps when the community contributes to our efforts."

Airman Brannan was recognized for her efforts recently at a commander's call.

"For an Airman to take this on by herself is a phenomenal thing you don't see that often," said Sergeant Ingram. "People often talk about how they want to help, but she didn't talk, she just did it. Hopefully, this will inspire others to act on their desire to support the community."

Although her efforts have garnered her respect from leadership and her peers, she remains humble and praises the donations from her squadron.

"All I really did was facilitate a place to hold the toys," said Airman Brannan, who completed her first year in the Air Force in February. "I don't feel I did that much at all. Pretty much the entire fundraiser's success came from the squadron."

Airman Brannan plans to continue the donation effort this year and next time hopes to get the gifts there by Christmas. In the meantime, she encourages anyone interested in making a difference to donate.

"It doesn't matter what you are donating or who you are donating to," said Airman Brannan. "You can always do something for someone who isn't as fortunate. Stop and think about what you would want someone to do for you if you were in their shoes."