Volunteers organize base chapel event

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jonathan Light
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Volunteers enabled the base chapel to hold its annual Vacation Bible School from July 28 to August 1, 2014, on base.

The event is a week long, 9 a.m. to noon school which offers children the opportunity to play, socialize and get out of their house for a week.

"VBS is a chapel based program that is faith based," said Chaplain (Capt.) Henry Hahm, 100th Air Refueling Wing chaplain from West Bury, New York. "However, people don't have to be of a certain faith to attend. It's a great program for children and gives parents three hours to themselves to get stuff done in the day."

All of this was made possible due to a group of volunteers who worked together to pick up where the Protestant Religious Education coordinator for the chapel left off when she had to step down from the event in late June 2014.

When Hahm heard the news, he quickly asked for volunteers to take over the unfinished project.

Hahm said he was delighted to see six eager volunteers, many of whom already had full plates, ready to take over the project.

"I equated it to a hydra, the mythical beast Hercules had to defeat. Laura gets taken out and six wonderful women volunteered to step up to the plate," Hahm said.

Out of the six, Abby Parker, spouse of Lt. Col. Kevin Parker, 100th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, stepped forward to take the lead on the project. She said they needed a director to keep the project organized and running smoothly.

Parker said VBS is usually planned the whole year leading up to the event, and while the Protestant Religious Education coordinator had created initial plans, it was difficult turning someone else's ideas into reality.

"It was a little challenging getting the supplies we needed for the event," Parker said. "(I couldn't) run to a super-market that had everything I needed."

Although these six women only had a month, they not only organized the program, but it went better than expected.

"I probably couldn't have asked for a better result," Hahm said. "When I originally asked them to take on the task, I was expecting the bare minimum, but they went above and beyond. They really put on one of the best VBS we ever had."