76 APS loads for 'Mission of Love' to Belize Published Aug. 8, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Bob Barko Jr. 910th Airlift Wing YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Airmen from the 76th Aerial Port Squadron helped 240 school children in the Central American country of Belize without ever leaving the cargo ramp at Youngstown Air Reserve Station. Members of the cargo ramp team and other 910th AW volunteers palletized 17,325 pounds of educational supplies and equipment being sent to four rural schools in Belize. The schools were built as part of New Horizons, a humanitarian civic engineering assistance exercise designed to give training to U.S. military units in civilian construction or medical care services. U.S. troops involved in the exercise build basic infrastructure (roads, bridges, schools, wells, etc.) and provide medical, dental and veterinary services. While the New Horizons exercise enabled the buildings to be constructed, there was not funding available to provide for the furniture or supplies to make the schools operational. After learning of the situation in Belize through the U.S. Military Liaison Office there, Kathleen Price, the founder and director of a Youngstown-based group became involved in fulfilling the request for needed supplies. Ms. Price's non-profit organization, the "Mission of Love Foundation," provides humanitarian aid to those in need worldwide, especially children. The group has airlifted and trucked clothing, medicine, food and building supplies to third world countries across the globe. It has also given relief to areas in the U.S. including the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and has rebuilt homes in Louisiana destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The "Mission of Love" was able to gather the donated items and educational supplies for eight classrooms in the four new buildings including 240 student desks with chairs, cafeteria furniture, teacher tables with chairs, 16 blackboards, 100 boxes of chalk, restroom supplies as well as 240 school knapsacks filled with pencils, pads, crayons and more for the school children. All in all, nearly nine tons of donations were gathered for the humanitarian mission to the small country bordered by Guatemala and Mexico. The groups wanting to send these supplies faced only one obstacle, but it was a big one: How would they get this mass of cargo to Belize? That is where the Denton Program and the 910th Airlift Wing became involved in this exercise in goodwill. The Denton Program allows private U.S. citizens and organizations to use space available on U.S. military cargo planes to transport humanitarian goods, such as clothing, food, medical and educational supplies, and agricultural equipment and vehicles, to countries in need. The program is jointly administered by a government agency known as USAID, the Department of State (DOS), and the Department of Defense (DOD). In Fiscal Year 2006, 576,000 pounds of humanitarian goods were sent to 12 different countries through this program. The Denton Program has enabled the "Mission of Love Foundation" to complete 44 airlifts including the current mission to Central America. The 910th and a C-17 cargo aircraft, assigned to Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. worked together to move the cargo from Ohio to Belize by way of South Carolina. After Ms. Price contacted YARS seeking assistance for this humanitarian mission, the 910th Logistics Readiness Squadron put out a call for volunteers to help out in the effort and gain valuable equipment preparation experience at the same time. After the "Mission of Love Foundation" brought the mass of furniture and supplies to the base, the volunteers here set out to prepare it for the trip to Belize. Maj. Dawn Sturdevant, the 910th Logistics Readiness Officer said she was thankful for the support given to the mission by members throughout the 910th. Tech. Sgt. Robert Moss, assigned to special handling with the 76 APS, is one of the Airmen who worked on this humanitarian mission. He also works with East Corporation as a civilian contractor and was involved in coordinating the effort to get the donations from the ground here onto the C-17 and eventually to Central America. He said he was glad to be involved in the airlift that would benefit those in need. "It is an honor to be able to help others," said Sergeant Moss. Once the cargo was delivered to YARS, it was stacked onto five pallets, wrapped, covered with cargo netting and put on the bed of a 60K aircraft cargo loader. An additional pallet of cargo was placed on a smaller aircraft loader. The C-17 appeared out of a clear blue sky over YARS on August 4, Saturday of the UTA weekend. As the Mobility Air Command aircraft taxied up to the loading ramp and opened its large rear door, the 76th Aerial Port cargo ramp team members quickly set to work. The 76th APS personnel made a short job of loading the six pallets of onto the C-17 with assistance from the crew from Charleston. After the Belize-bound cargo was secured aboard the jet-powered aircraft, Ms. Price shook hands with the aerial porters as well as the South Carolina crew and thanked them for the efforts to help with the humanitarian mission. Within moments of Ms. Price and the ground crew from YARS climbing off the C-17, it was prepped for take off, taxied down the runway and lifted off toward South Carolina. From Charleston, the cargo of educational supplies and equipment was scheduled to be flown, August 18, to Belize City, Belize aboard a military aircraft supporting redeployments from the U.S. Southern Command. A part of the Denton Program features the use of aircraft being utilized for existing missions. In this case, the aircraft bound for Central America would usually be empty and return with cargo and personnel from the region. Ms. Price smiled as she watched the cargo aircraft shrink to a small speck in the bright blue sky and finally disappear from view. She said she was also thankful for the kindness shown by the Airmen who helped make the airlift happen. The involvement of the Airmen here in this humanitarian airlift reflects the Air Force's core value of "Service before Self." It is a value that the "Mission of Love" shares and embraces in every effort the group undertakes. The result of the effort undertaken by the "Mission of Love Foundation" and members of the 910th will be evident when four schools in the Central American country of Belize are able to open their doors and welcome 240 children for the first time. As she talks about the end result of this "Mission of Love," Kathleen Price's eyes light up. "It doesn't get much better than to be able to be of service to those in need," she said with a smile.