Tsunami relief gets help from local Air Force officer

Also, Hillsborough students pitching in.

By: Roger Alvarado
   Over the years, Allen Court resident Chris Duffek, a major with the 621st Air Mobility Operations Group, has gotten used to being called in to work on short notice.
   On Jan. 7, Maj. Duffek and the members of the 621st AMOG received word that 24 hours later they would be deployed to Thailand to provide support for the tsunami relief operations currently ongoing in South Asia.


Students throughout district

contribute to fund raising

   Kindergarten students, high school seniors and everyone in between including staff and parents are emptying their pockets to help children half a world away whose lives have been turned upside down by December’s deadly tsunami.

   The proceeds from Hillsborough’s districtwide coin drive ending Jan. 24 will be donated to Save the Children.

   "They might use the money to buy food and drink to ship it to the countries that a lot of people died in," Sunnymead Elementary School third-grade student Joey Dallmeyer said Tuesday, standing in the main office near a 5-gallon water jug about one-third full of pennies, nickels, dollar bills and a few checks.

   One student brought in a check for $125.

   "Maybe they could use the money for people to rebuild their houses," added Monica Macaro, also a third-grade student at Sunnymead.

   Elementary school students like Joey and Monica are earning money from their parents by performing chores such as cleaning their rooms or clearing the table, reinforcing the schools’ character education and respect and responsibility programs.

   Walnut Grove Road resident MaryJo Eckhard, a parent who helped organize the coin drive, said Friday she hadn’t done the laundry for a week and a half. Her daughter Sarah, a second-grade student at Woods Road Elementary School, took over that job to earn her contribution to the coin drive.

   At Triangle School, fourth-grade students made posters illustrating tsunami’s path of devastation, and put them on the walls throughout the school along with decorated cans where students can drop off donations.

   Auten Road Intermediate School students are also collecting coins, but their Student Council came up with an additional fund-raiser.

   In the next couple of weeks, Auten Road students will sell spirit bands, similar to the yellow LiveSTRONG bracelets promoting cancer awareness. These bands will be red and white, with the name of the school, the word "tsunami" and a picture of an island on them.

   "It’s a great benefit of the character education program at the elementary schools that anytime (the students) have a family in need or a tragedy like this, they just open up their hearts," Auten Road Vice Principal Mary Ann Mullady said.

   Students will sell the 2,000 bracelets ordered to family and friends for $2, Ms. Mullady said.

   Hillsborough Middle School seventh grade students on Team 7C started collecting money during their lunch hour even before the district-wide coin drive started, and in five days, 125 students contributed $862, according to Principal Robert DelPrete.

   "These kids always come through," he said.

   The middle school students are also planning bake sales and may launch other projects throughout the rest of the school year.

   Students at Hillsborough High School, whose parents probably expect them to clean their rooms and clear the table without additional incentives, are also taking a different approach to collecting donations.

   Two school organizations, National Honor Society (NHS) and the Interact service club teamed up to solicit donations from students during homeroom and lunch hours.

   "There was talk at lunch and we thought if the federal government is giving money, why can’t we?" said senior Andrew Taylor, NHS treasurer and organizer of his group’s fund-raising efforts.

   NHS collected $800 last week. Interact’s fund-raising continued through Wednesday and a final figure was not available as of press time. Money raised at the high school will go to UNICEF.

   On a global scale and on a local scale, Andrew said, he sees the outpouring of generosity after the tsunami disaster as an all-too-rare exercise in teamwork.

   "Not only does it spread awareness, it also spreads a sense of unity," Andrew said. "You see that with international politics, with countries cooperating, and you see that in the high school with the different groups."

   Donations collected at all the schools will be sent to Save the Children and UNICEF by the beginning of February.

Emily Craighead

   "It was on very short notice," Julie Duffek said Monday. "He found out Friday that he had to leave early in the morning on the eighth."
   Mrs. Duffek says her husband wasn’t surprised by how quickly he was to be deployed, but more by the fact that it was his unit that was sent.
   "Usually the West Coast handles relief missions," she said.
   However, because of the ongoing war in Iraq and the recent catastrophic natural disasters that have occurred in the South Asia region, the military has had no other choice but to call on units that wouldn’t normally be assigned certain missions, Mrs. Duffek said.
   Maj. Duffek, a five-year township resident, is currently deployed at the Utaphao Air Base in Thailand, a Vietnam-era bomber base, where he is supporting Operation Unified Assistance as an airlift coordination officer, Air Force officials said.
   A 1983 Rutgers University graduate and a 19-year Air Force veteran, he is permanently assigned to the 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, out of McGuire Air Force Base.
   "There is a great sense of satisfaction in helping people during desperate times," Maj. Duffek said via e-mail Tuesday. "We also get a chance to work with other U.S. military services, members of foreign militaries and civilian nongovernmental organizations."
   As a member of Combined Support Force 536, which was created to direct U.S. military relief efforts throughout the region, Maj. Duffek has been a part of the CSF’s 1,814 flight missions that have delivered 4.8 million pounds of water, food, medical supplies and equipment to the stricken victims, Air Force officials said.
   Maj. Duffek’s main function in the region is as an airlift coordination officer, officials said.
   "Because there are so many organizations trying to help, my job is to coordinate and deconflict the airlift going into various staging airfields," Maj. Duffek said.
   The Air Force operates heavy inter-theater airlift, like the C-17 and C-5, from the United States to air bases in the Pacific, officials said.
   U Taphoa, Thailand is the region’s central distribution point for most of the supplies. From there C-130 aircraft fly spoke routes, or intra-theater lines, into the most affected areas of Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand. In cases where a sufficient landing strip is not available, Navy and Air Force helicopters are loaded to reach some of the more austere locations, like Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Air Force officials said.
   Maj. Duffek, who won’t return home until the end of next month, says he’s eager to help out and that the sacrifice of not being with his family for a brief time is worth it because of what he’s helping to accomplish in the region.
   "The tasking was certainly short notice and the separation is tough, but the mission is very rewarding," Maj. Duffek said.
   Mrs. Duffek says that she and their three sons, 10-year-olds Michael and Matthew and 5-year-old Danny are eagerly awaiting their father’s return.
   "They’re very proud that he’s helping out," Mrs. Duffek said.
   Air Force officials say that U.S. relief forces will remain only as long as necessary in order for affected nations to conduct sustained disaster relief operations on their own. Their primary concern is to rapidly reduce the further loss of life and human suffering from the wake of the Dec. 26 Tsunami, which has already killed more than 160,000.