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The Ramstein Commissary turned into a speedway stocked with free food as Airmen and family members raced through the aisles Dec. 18.
All part of the 435th Services Squadron holidays giveaways, three lucky Ramstein members were given five-minute shopping sprees.
“We wanted to give back to the community during the holiday season, and what better way to make someone’s holiday special then by giving,” said Julie Rich, 435th SVS marketing director.
Kenneth Cole, 435th SVS deputy commander, said the squadron was looking for something different to give away, and “stocking stuffers was thought up because we just wanted to do something out of the box.”
The three participants were picked from a “stocking stuffer” drawing, which included three categories – E-1 to E-5, 0-1 to 0-3 and the spouse of a deployed servicemember. Each contestant had five minutes to get as much as possible in their cart. Everything was up for grabs outside of rationed items and medicine.
“I thought it was very generous for services to put this together,” said 2nd Lt. Barbara Van De Water, 435th ABW Equal Opportunity deputy chief.
The lieutenant said her goal was to get as many non-perishable food items as she could.
“My husband called at four this morning to make sure I was doing my stretching,” she said. “He also told me to do well in the Air Force today and to make him proud.”
While the shopping spree was meant to benefit the winner, the spirit of giving motivated some to choose otherwise.
Lieutenant Van De Water chose to donate all of her winnings to Staff Sgt. Andrew Post and his family, whose wife unexpectedly passed away last week leaving him with four young children to care for during the holidays.
“I’m donating all of this because it will save him time from having to go to the commissary. You can never do enough for someone in this type of situation, and every little thing helps,” the lieutenant said.
To some in the competition, it came as a surprise that they had won the drawing.
“I was just so shocked to find out I had won the drawing. I didn’t know what to think when I was notified,” said Wendi Newell, wife of Staff Sgt. Shane Newell, 735th Civil Engineering Squadron.
The contestants all had a game plan of just exactly where they would hit first.
“My goal of the shopping spree is to get as much seafood and steak,” Mrs. Newell said. “I talked to my husband last night, who is deployed, and he was really excited. He told me to get as much steak as possible, and even told me if I needed to buy a freezer, then do it.”
Amid the cheers of her children, Mrs. Newell did very well for her family – accumulating $2,602 worth of groceries.
“I’m very proud of my mom. She did really well,” said her son, Zach Newell.
From steak and shrimp, to energy drinks and cereal, baggers had no trouble identifying who owned each cart by its contents.
“I tried to get a lot of drinks and juice. It went very quickly, and now I’m tired,” said Airman 1st Class Alfred Hayes, 435th Munitions Squadron.
Not only does giving play a big role in the holidays, but gratefulness and appreciation can also always be found.
“Thank you everyone who helped put this event together,” said Airman Hayes, who successfully grabbed $881 worth of items. “I live in the dorm and am on a meal card, so usually I would not come to the commissary. This really helps out a lot.”
While the shopping spree was fun and entertaining, the event certainly captured the spirit of the holidays and the spirit of giving. Anyone interested in making a donation to the Post family can contact Master Sgt. Randall Nelson, 1st Communications Maintenance Squadron first sergeant, or deposit money in the account at Community Bank under Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Post.
