A taste of home
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on December 9, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Lori Carter and her son Levi, 5 months, add cards to packages of cookies on Monday night for Seymour Johnson Air Force Base airmen who will not get to go home for the holidays.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Cathy Palmer, left, adds some more cookies to the table to be put in the packages.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
4th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Mark Slocum adds a variety of cookies to a package during the cookie drive.
Morgan Palmer loves Christmas.
She has had her braces colored red and green for the holiday.
The white pompom on her Santa hat bounces with every step she takes.
But the 12-year-old's favorite part of Christmas is spending time with members of her family.
So Monday evening, she joined them at the Airman Cookie Drive packing event on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base -- an undertaking that, by this morning, was set to give a taste of home to the 600 airmen who will not be able to leave the installation for the holidays.
Morgan's favorite cookie is chocolate chip, but she managed to restrain herself while making rounds around the table.
"I'm just trying to get various kinds," she said.
And thanks to the generosity of Wayne County residents and Seymour Johnson personnel and dependents, there were plenty of cookies to choose from.
The entire room quickly began to smell like a bakery, as volunteers packed away the sweets -- from simple chocolate chip to more complex swirled cookies.
Event coordinator Ryan Glass' goal was to have 8,000 cookies donated to the drive.
"Just a little bit of holiday good will," she said.
The cookie boxes were to be left in base dorm rooms this morning.
"We just want to do what we can," Mrs. Glass said.
But cookies are not the only thing the airmen will come home to today.
Local schoolchildren made holiday cards that were attached to the top of the boxes.
4th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Mark Slocum said he was humbled by the donations -- and the number of people who turned out Monday to ensure a taste of home reached his youngest airmen.
He was among those picking out -- and packing -- cookies.
"We have to get a bit of color and we'll be good," he said, grabbing different brands.
Slocum participated in the event to lead by example -- and to be a part of an event he believes will boost morale.
"Many of them won't get to go home," he said.
The colonel was partial to the mint chocolate chip cookies -- and an unspoken rule during the event is that broken cookies can be consumed by those packing them.
"I haven't broken any yet," he quipped. "What a fun event. When you see the outpouring of support from this community, it's humbling."
Monday's event is not the only holiday cookie drive unfolding in Goldsboro this week.
The Goldsboro Library is hosting a cookie drive for troops on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The cookies collected for its drive will be mailed overseas to the deployed men and women.
The public is invited to bring a few dozen cookies for the cookie swap. Guidelines are provided on the library's website.