ALS students donate furniture to veterans

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Josh Slavin
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz.- --  Forty six Airmen from the Airman Leadership School at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., donated furniture to local homeless military veterans May 4.

Volunteer students spent about three hours loading a truck with furniture from the ALS building. The furniture donated by the school will be used to furnish rooms and provide homes for homeless veterans in Tucson.

Donations included beds, desks, lamps, pictures, chairs, dressers and armoires. Most of the furniture came from the decommissioned student dorm rooms from the ALS facility.

With the construction of a new building underway, the ALS team was looking for way a to help others while making the transition to the new school easier on their staff.

"With our help, and the future support of others on the base, we are able to help keep vets off the streets," said Staff Sgt. Thomas Wilson, ALS instructor.

Wilson worked with Glenn Fournie, the 355th Contracting Squadron honorary commander, to fill a truck provided by the 355th Logistics Readiness Squadron and transport the furniture to a donation center.

The intent of the Honorary Commander Program is to educate community leaders who have limited knowledge of the Air Force and the installation. The program works to foster public trust and support by familiarizing community leaders with the customs, courtesies and camaraderie of the U.S. Air Force.

The current ALS building was a converted dormitory and had a floor of unoccuppied rooms for several years. Most recently, the rooms were used during the base freeze in 2011, the rooms were offered to families who were temporarily forced out of their homes due to broken pipes that had burst from the frigid temperatures.

Wilson plans to continue to work with Fournie and hopes to get more of the base involved in the attempt to get veterans off the street.