Dyess We Care Team celebrates its eighth year

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. A.C. Eggman
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  With the goal of enhancing teamwork, self-worth and leadership in mind, one Dyess Airman assembled a small group of volunteers, intent on helping others on and off base.
That was eight years ago. Since then, the group has grown into a force of nearly 500 Dyess active-duty Air Force, civilians, retired military and family members who will celebrate eight years of success during their annual banquet July 26 at McMurry University. 

The banquet honors those who have selflessly given their time to help the elderly, disabled and less fortunate in Abilene and its surrounding communities. 

According to the WCT founder and program director retired Master Sgt. Gordon Storey, the team formed when, "I began to notice a change in the Air Force," he said. "Doing 'more with less' was taking its toll on our camaraderie, teamwork and mentorship. Everyone seemed so busy fixing and launching aircraft that they overlooked their most valuable resource - each other." 

This apparent change distressed Mr. Storey, who at the time was a staff sergeant assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing Military Equal Opportunity Office. Realizing his proudest and most confident moments were when he was volunteering, he suggested to leadership that the base use community service as a conduit to build cohesion, teamwork, self-worth, confidence and leadership among fellow Airmen. Little did he realize at the time, he volunteered himself to become the founder of the all-volunteer non-profit organization. 

Since then, WCT members have annually volunteered nearly 6,000 hours of their off-duty time on more than 70 community service projects. Most projects include painting houses, replacing rotted boards, building wheelchair access ramps, landscaping, some interior work and assisting other volunteer organizations. 

Each request for assistance is reviewed by a committee and then is assigned a team leader. "We look at what's doable and what's not in a day or two," he said. "If it's too extensive, we refer the project to another organization." 

The team leader visits the requestor's home, determines if the project can be done and reports back to the committee. 

"The team leader program is the backbone of the WCT, which is used to develop Airmen into responsible leaders," said Mr. Storey. "These Airmen often lead teams of higher ranking officers and senior enlisted members. By empowering even the lowest of ranks, the WCT and the team leader program allow motivated Airmen to oversee service projects from start to finish." 

One recent project started out with just painting a kitchen, but soon turned into a complete refurbishing of the kitchen to include a new stove. But the WCT didn't always have the funds to be so generous, said Mr. Storey. 

Their first project was to help turn a dilapidated school into a center for adult literacy and job placement. When the more than 30 volunteers arrived at the project site, the center had only managed to obtain four paint brushes and four paint rollers. A few phone calls during the week to other organizations for donations and the team was back the next weekend with enough supplies to complete the task. 

"That's when I learned how supportive and generous the Abilene community is," said Mr. Storey. "The first six years, we depended upon people to donate our supplies." 

But that changed in 2006, when the team became a non-profit organization and now receives funds through the generosity of such programs like the Combined Federal Campaign. With support, the team has been able to take on much larger ventures such as rebuilding the local ice rink, creating a 100 percent wheelchair accessible playground, and rebuilding another playground destroyed by vandals. 

"The WCT has far exceeded their initial goal of painting one house a month," said Mr. Storey. "A powerful combination of a hospitable community and a willing service group is what has made Abilene the perfect place to initiate a volunteer program like WCT through Dyess Air Force Base." 

Anyone who is interested in volunteering on a project can e-mail the team at
thedyesswecareteam@yahoo.com and ask to be added to the volunteer list.