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Date Posted: 13:25:57 06/04/07 Mon
Author: Scottie
Subject: It is working
In reply to: DMetz72 's message, "Re: Sat May 26?" on 16:05:55 05/31/07 Thu

Surrounded by a mound of letters, most with contributions enclosed, the USO director at Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport couldn't help but think that things just got better for American troops passing through.

A tight budget in recent months meant that some treats for the soldiers – premium ice cream bars and spicy chicken sandwiches among them – had to be pulled from the USO's menu.

But after Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow wrote about the group's financial straits on Memorial Day weekend, the situation changed in a big way, Rhenda White-Brunner said.

"We have been blessed," she said. "The letters are pouring in."

The USO's services are free to America's military, but free ends up costing a lot of money – money that local USOs are expected to raise as best they can.

In the case of the D/FW USO, which serves as many as 600 military personnel a day, local contributions provided almost a quarter of the budget. But the rest must come from somewhere else, and with rising needs around the world, there's only so much money to go around.

"We're expected to try to raise our money, but we've been here three years and we haven't been able to do that," Ms. White-Brunner said. "We raise about 24 percent locally. And the rest, you know, is subsidized.

"The issue is we have people in places like Kuwait and Afghanistan, and the military is asking us to set up a USO in Iraq. These are areas where there are no local resources, so we need to attract local resources here so we can do things in areas with super-high needs."

Of course, the needs are high almost everywhere, including at D/FW, one of two "R&R hubs" for military personnel returning from overseas or heading out of the country on assignment.

In the first three months of the year, D/FW Airport served almost 38,000 service men and women, their families and retired military, Ms. White-Brunner said.

They might stop by for a snack, or to watch a movie on the big-screen plasma TV. They might just want to grab a nap between flights. Whatever they need, the USO tries to provide it, she said.

Army Maj. Patrick McAfee, who oversees troop movements through D/FW, said the USO here "sets the standard."

But with a tightening budget, the standard was slipping just a bit, until the public responded.

"We're just beginning to open the mail and tabulate the contributions," Ms. White-Brunner said. "But the community, everyone from individuals to business groups to companies, has really come through.

"We've heard from a whole variety of people, many from veterans with sweet stories about how in the Vietnam era, they came back and were treated with disgust and disrespect. They want our soldiers to never forget they're appreciated.

"It's just amazing. We're spending as much time reading the letters as we are collecting the contributions. And those will make a difference in what we can do."

As with most groups that rely on donations to provide their services, the USO's contributions ebb and flow through the year.

"We're really remembered during the holidays," Ms. White-Brunner said, "but there are two flights every day, and you try never to forget that. These service men and women present us with their humanity when they visit, and we're so thankful for that.

"Now, these contributions give us a surge in what we can do. We don't know the ultimate impact, but we're in a much better place than we were last weekend."

For Ms. White-Brunner, a self-described "Air Force brat" who is doing exactly what she always wanted, and for the 260 volunteers who keep the USO running from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. seven days a week, the response to the agency's need is overwhelming.

"We've been quite emotional here," Ms. White-Brunner said. "Everyone is quite touched with what people are trying to do for our men and women in uniform."


HOW TO HELP

Anyone wanting to donate should send checks to USO Dallas/Fort Worth, P.O. Box 613306, D/FW Airport, Texas, 75261.

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