No small potatoes generosity at Hill

  • Published
  • By Mary Lou Gorny
  • Mary Lou Gorny
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  No matter how you peel them -- or if you don't -- 40,000 pounds of potatoes makes a fairly large mound in a parking lot when you pile up approximately 840 fifty-pound sacks.

That's the size of the contribution Team Hill received March 12 through the generosity of Tom Holm, an Idaho Falls farmer, and U.S. Army Lt. Col. (Ret.) Reginald Reeves, now a practicing Idaho Falls attorney, who conducts a large outreach program out of Southern Idaho.

"There were a lot of them and most of them were baking size," said Craig Nielsen, Airman and Family Readiness Center, as he described the donation.

Volunteers helped distribute potatoes from a parking lot near the center from 10 a.m. until 3:45 p.m..

"We were giving out potatoes all day long except for a short break in the afternoon, when we had to stop for awhile," said Nielsen.

When Reeves first made contact with Hill Air Force Base through the Retiree Activities Office, Nielsen heard about the idea and ran with it.

"(We) loved the idea that someone in the community would make that kind of awesome gesture -- potatoes aren't that expensive -- (it's) the thought of somebody going to all the trouble and spending a lot of money to provide those potatoes for the Hill community," Nielsen said.

"(Reeves) wanted to support the warriors and support those that support the warriors, so that means everybody here at Hill," Nielsen said. Doug Andrus Trucking provided a tractor trailer and another business donated the packing supplies.

Holm, the potato grower, rode down with Bill Jensen, a Vietnam veteran, who volunteered to drive the tractor trailer from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Hill AFB.

"It was slow because it was so heavy going up the mountain passes," Holm said.

Nielsen described the potato giveaway as a unique situation because the Airman and Readiness Center usually does not accept this type of donation because of logistical reasons.

The center was working simply as the point of contact -- a distribution point.

"A lot of times people try to donate things to us," Nielsen said. "We can't take monetary donations directly, they must go through our private organization, the Utah Military Families Foundation. We can take gift certificates (or) phone cards. Every day we have families in need who come to us for help. Part of our mission is to support these families.

"Our primary mission is readiness, to make sure that our war fighters are ready and we do this through helping the families in need," he said. "But we serve civilians and military -- anybody at Hill Air Force Base, so it's not limited to any particular group.

"The best part of it for me is knowing that we have made a difference, whether it's with a potato, financial assistance or just bringing people together who share in this experience called 'the mission.'"