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Show May 7, 1992 13 Amesquita has been involved in volunteer activities for several years and has spent more than one volunteer. year as a Volunteers honored for selfless service full-tim- e "Volunteering makes me feel good inside because I feel like I can make a difference every day," she said. Category No. 3 Angel Award, given in honor of Hill a volunteer agency, was presented to the Family Services agency. by Lisa Colgate Hilltop Times staff Family Services coordinator Betty MacDill has dedicated 32 years to volunteering. In all her years of service, MacDill says she will never forget her experience with the victims of the Clark AB disaster. "We were helping people who were left with absolutely nothing. We provided furniture, pots and pans and anything else we could come up with," MacDill said. "You have no idea how happy these things made people. I feel I would be wasting my life if I weren't helping others." Rene Downey and Sandra Gilloth were both named Angel Award recipients in category No. 4 in praise of their efforts to support the military com- Members of Hill AFB gathered at the NCO Club Friday to honor volunteers for their outstanding contributions to the military community. In addition, six volunteers in four categories received the prestigious Angel Award for 1991. Maj. Gen. Dale W. Thompson Jr., Ogden Air Logistics Center commander, thanked Hill volunteers during the Angel Award ceremony for their dedication, calling them role models and mentors who inspire others to become a part of a vital volunteer force. Thompson added that volunteers helped people face the many challenges of the past year including the hiring freeze, layoffs, budget cuts and the massive deployment of Hill's military personnel to the Persian Gulf. "How do we place a value on our volunteers and volunteer agencies? Without volunteers, the many services they provide would be left undone," Thompson said. Last year Hill volunteers provided approximately 60,000 hours of service to the community, saving Hill more than $300,000, based on minimum wage. As Col. Steven R. Emory put it, however, "Minimum wage doesn't begin to equate with the tremendous benefit the Air Force receives every year from its volunteers." Emory said the military community will always have a need for volunteers and that "no great leader would be without a volunteer army." Sanna Long and Catherine Geiger tied for the Angel Award in category No. 1. Eligible in this category were military spouses, retirees and family members not employed for money. Long never imagined she would find volunteer Hilltop Times munity during operations Desert Storm or Desert Shield. During the Persian Gulf war, Downey said volunteering helped her forget her own problems. "Helping others helped me through the war by making my "problems seem less significant," she work so fulfilling, saying, "There is so much gratification that comes with doing a job no one else might do." Geiger began volunteering to better herself. She considers the military her family and decided to return the support she has received over the years by dedicating her time to others. Vicki Amesquita was named the Angel Award recipient in category No. 2, which includes military or civilian volunteers employed by Hill AFB. said. Gilloth said for many family members, the war amplified the sense of being alone. "No one should be alone," she said. "The war was a time for family members to be recognized as individuals. A military wife myself, I tried to help wives feel like their own person rather than an ap- pendage." This is the fifth year Hill has participated in the Angel Award program. The program was started by Eunice Welch, wife of retired Gen. Larry D. Welch, former Air Force Chief of Staff, and Donna Hansen, wife of retired Maj. Gen. Alfred G. Hansen, former commander of the Air Force Logistics Command, to honor one of, the community's most precious assets, its volunteers. |