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WICHITA FALLS, Texas
– Exciting news! On
August 25, 2009, the
Rio del Fierro
Composite Squadron,
SWR-TX-430 was
awarded a $1000
grant from the
Wal-Mart store in
Wichita Falls,
Texas. How did this
come about?
It all started when
the squadron, after
two years of moving
around, finally
found a new meeting
place it could call
its own. However,
the elation soon
subsided when we
discovered that
there were no chairs
or tables to furnish
our new quarters.
It was only logical
to think that all we
had to do was go out
into the community
and find someone
willing to donate
some used furniture.
Unfortunately, it
wasn’t that simple.
After asking our
squadron commander
for permission to
start looking for
furniture and other
items we needed, I
started out by
asking the local
school district if
they had any surplus
tables or chairs
they would like to
get rid of.
The first answer
was, “Yes,” but they
added that Civil Air
Patrol wasn’t on the
list of agencies
that could receive
surplus items from
anyone, and
therefore the school
couldn’t help us.
Not convinced that
this was true, I
respectfully asked
to see that list.
After a bit of
research I
discovered that,
according to
Government Code
2175, Civil Air
Patrol is, in fact,
eligible to receive
surplus items.
The author is about
to receive the
Wal-Mart store’s
$1,000 check from
Corky Adams, a store
manager.
I called the State
of Texas Facilities
Commission and a
very nice lady
looked up the code
and then asked me to
wait until after she
had spoken with her
supervisor, because
this case had never
come up in her 27
years working there.
A day later I got
the call. Indeed,
CAP fell under this
provision, and could
get donations from
schools and
government agencies.
Shortly thereafter,
we received tables
from the school
district.
Things didn’t stop
there. Elated by our
success with tables
and chairs, I went
on to contact local
stores and asked if
they would could
donate supplies or
funds to the
squadron. This
effort involved
educating these
community partners
on the CAP and
squadron missions.
The results? Home
Depot donated $51 to
help us paint and
seal the main
meeting room’s
floor, Ashley’s
Furniture gave us a
large shelving unit,
and the local
Wal-Mart graciously
donated $1000.
Thanks to these
generous
contributors, the
squadron will be
able to continue its
service to the
community, state and
nation.
Civil Air Patrol,
the official
auxiliary of the
U.S. Air Force, is a
nonprofit
organization with
more than 56,000
members nationwide.
CAP performs 90
percent of
continental U.S.
inland search and
rescue missions as
tasked by the Air
Force Rescue
Coordination Center
and was credited by
the AFRCC with
saving 90 lives in
fiscal year 2008.
Its volunteers also
perform homeland
security, disaster
relief and
counter-drug
missions at the
request of federal,
state and local
agencies. The
members play a
leading role in
aerospace education
and serve as mentors
to the nearly 22,000
young people
currently
participating in CAP
cadet programs. CAP
has been performing
missions for America
for more than 67
years. For more
information on CAP,
please the national
website at
www.gocivilairpatrol.com
and the local
squadron’s at
www.tx430.com
2nd Lt. Ada Matthews |
