Caring Hearts & Hands of Quail Creek has a long and supportive relationship with the 162nd Wing Air National Guard based in Tucson. Each year, Caring Hearts & Hands holds a Baby Shower in May on National Armed Forces Day for the enlisted military families and their newborn patriots. And throughout the year, they provide Welcome Baby baskets for military newborns who arrive before the Baby Shower.
In October, the Family Readiness Unit of the 162nd Wing contacted Caring Hearts & Hands Treasurer Kathi Krieg and President Sue Ann Obremski with an impromptu request for baby items. European Allied pilots and their families would be coming to the airbase on a rotational basis to be trained on U.S. jet fighters. Already four Allied pilots and their families were in Tucson. The pilots were not allowed to ship any belongings. The families had infants and/or toddlers who needed cribs, highchairs, strollers, clothes, and other baby paraphernalia. That’s when Caring Hearts & Hands’ Caryl Reitinger and team got to work kitting baby items, collecting donations from White Elephant of Green Valley, and delivering them to the 162nd Wing. This effort will continue until all the Allied pilots and their families have what baby items they need.
Caring Hearts & Hands wants to acknowledge our gratitude to White Elephant, which donates all its gently used baby/toddler donations, including strollers, cribs, clothes, and toys, to Caring Hearts & Hands. We would not be able to provide these crucial baby items without their support. And we want to thank the Quail Creek community for their continued donations and monetary gifts to Caring Hearts & Hands.
If you would like to make a monetary donation or donate gently used baby items to support our European Allied military pilots and their families, please email us at [email protected] for instructions.