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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Military tradition helps by the bagful

Liz Edmondson, left, and Senior Airman Robin Kinney load gift bags for local families of deployed troops into Edmondson's vehicle Thursday at Fairchild Air Force Base. Edmondson, a volunteer with Operation Spokane Heroes, is spending this holiday without her husband, who is stationed in Iraq. (Ingrid Lindemann / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Camden jimc@spokesman.com(509) 879-7461
Liz Edmondson, left, and Senior Airman Robin Kinney load gift bags for local families of deployed troops into Edmondson's vehicle Thursday at Fairchild Air Force Base. Edmondson, a volunteer with Operation Spokane Heroes, is spending this holiday without her husband, who is stationed in Iraq. (Ingrid Lindemann / The Spokesman-Review)

With Spokane-area military stationed everywhere from Afghanistan and Iraq to the U.S. border with Mexico, a local tradition that started in 2001 has grown to an event that organizers say is fun and exciting.

“We look forward to it every year,” Jennifer Simmons said of the Operation Spokane Heroes donation of gift boxes to families of military members away from home on assignment.

The first gift boxes were put together to meet the needs of military families right after rapid deployments that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Simmons said. On Thursday, some 500 gift boxes were delivered to Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine officers to distribute to the families in their units.

Sponsored by the Kalispel Tribe and Northern Quest Casino, the boxes contain such things as bags of gourmet popcorn, candy, small toys for children and coupons for movie rentals.

Col. Scott Hanson, wing commander of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, said the families appreciate the treats in the boxes. But they appreciate the community support the boxes represent even more.

“We are just fortunate here to enjoy tremendous community support in Spokane,” Hanson said.

Fairchild has about 400 people deployed at assignments ranging from Iraq and Afghanistan to South America, Asia and Europe, Hanson said. When he asked who among the crowd at the base community center had someone in their family or unit away on assignment, nearly every hand went up.

Fairchild regularly has crews coming and going, and that will be true throughout the holidays, Hanson said.

Guard and reserve units also received gift boxes for families of their members on assignment. Washington Air National Guard Lt. Col. Nancy Reid said that local unit has about 60 of its members away from home on assignment for the holidays, including a group helping to patrol areas along the Mexican border.