Commentary: Continuing our legacy of caring Published March 4, 2013 By Col. Steven Bleymaier 72nd Air Base Wing and Tinker Installation Commander TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Seventy-one years ago this week, the vision and generosity of Oklahomans enabled the War Department to officially start depot maintenance operations on what would become Tinker Air Force Base. Those aerospace pioneers saw a need for our nation and worked together as a community to fill it. Over the next six weeks, we have an opportunity to sustain that legacy by participating in the Air Force Assistance Fund. This "by our own -- for our own" campaign supports active duty, reserve, Air National Guard and retied airmen and their families. The annual Air Force Assistance Fund drive officially kicks off here March 4 and will run through April 12. The Tinker goal is $110,000, just a shade over the $104,000 raised in 2012. The AFAF provides financial support to four charitable organizations: the Air Force Villages, Inc.; the Air Force Aid Society, Inc.; the General and Mrs. Curtis E. LeMay Foundation; and the Air Force Enlisted Village, Inc. The Air Force Aid Society is the official charity of the Air Force. Airmen can visit the Air Force Aid Society coordinator at their base and apply for grants or loans for emergency medical bills, car repair, travel to be with a sick family member, even food, rent or utilities. Last year, the AFAS provided Tinker personnel with more than $147,000 in direct financial assistance, education grants and support for community programs. Air Force wide, assistance averages about $20 million each year and touches over 40,000 Airmen in need. The Air Force Village Indigent Widows' Fund provides widows or widowers of retired career Air Force officers with affordable living options. Since 1970, the fund has paid out more than $10 million covering health care services, living accommodations for up to one year and dependent care for elderly parents and grandparents. The Air Force Enlisted Village Indigent Widows' fund has provided homes for more than 1,600 surviving spouses since 1975 at its north Florida facilities. The housing and services are available to spouses of enlisted members who have died on active duty. The village also provides emergency housing to active duty or retired Airmen and their families during natural disasters. The General and Mrs. Curtis LeMay Foundation provides nationwide financial assistance to widows of all retired Air Force personnel. Funds are given with "no strings attached." Because the Air Force Assistance Fund is administered directly by the Air Force, 95 percent of funds received go directly to the mission of supporting Airmen and their families and 100 percent of donations are tax deductible for the donor. On page 3 is a listing of the major unit project officers. If your unit doesn't have a POC please contact the closest to your organization or the overall project officers: Capt Andrew Berger at 739-7353 or Capt Kelly Sherman at 734-4846. You may also obtain additional information on the AFAF by going to www.afassistancefund.org. Just as our amazing community partners have been there to help Tinker for seven decades, so have AFAF beneficiaries been there to help all Airmen and our families while on active duty and beyond. I urge you to do what you can, even a small contribution is meaningful, and help us continue Tinker's enduring legacy of caring.