Emergency Leave Transfer Program a success, more donations still needed Published Sept. 19, 2013 By Brandice J. O'Brien Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- For three hours on May 20, Christie England's world stopped spinning. It came to a complete standstill; her 4-year-old daughter was trapped in Moore's Plaza Towers Elementary School after an EF-5 tornado ravaged the city. She was not alone. Throughout the month, devastating storms tore through the state leaving several dead and disrupting the lives of thousands more. Ms. England's daughter survived and was found underneath her teacher, a wall and an upside-down car, but Ms. England said rebuilding and re-adjusting has not been easy or inexpensive. Many Tinker civilians are in similar situations and recently, the Air Force Sustainment Center Directorate of Personnel enacted a program to help civil service employees adversely affected by the natural disasters. The Emergency Leave Transfer Program allows civilians from around the world to donate their accrued leave-hours to Tinker civil service members in this situation. To date, the program has collected 1,599 hours since June. But, a minimum of 467 additional hours are still needed just to meet the needs of employees who have already applied for emergency leave and a few more applications come in every week. Donations will be accepted until the program draws to an end Nov. 20. "Donating leave time is a good way to help people who have been affected by disaster without having to put a lot of effort into it," said Kathye Michaelis, AFSC/DP Human Resources specialist and Voluntary Leave Donor Program manager. "For example, if you live in Japan, it's a lot easier to donate leave to people in need than trying to find an organization where you can send money or clothes." The program, approved by the president with guidelines written by the Office of Personnel Management, is designed to help people so they don't have a huge loss of income. Should a civilian employee decide to ask for leave hours, he is required to complete OPM form 1637 proving he has experienced severe damage or physical problems as a direct result of the tornadoes that struck between May 19 and June 2. Approximately 35 civilians requested up to 240 leave hours. Only a maximum of 80 hours has been distributed to any one person thus far. On average, a single person will donate 30 hours. But, Ms. Michaelis said four people have each donated 104 hours to the program. "That's everything they have earned in a year," she said. "They're very generous." Donations have come in from an assortment of places including Pacific Air Forces, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; and Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.; Alaska, Hawaii and England. Of everyone who requested leave, about half of them have received it, including Ms. England. "I requested 56 hours because this year has been a difficult one and I was close to zero when the tornado happened. My grandfather had died on Easter and my uncle died two weeks later and I had to go out of town for both of them, which burned a lot of leave," said Ms. England, 72nd Air Base Wing Judge Advocate paralegal specialist, who still lives in Moore. "As a result of the tornado, my daughter was and is struggling so bad that I had to take a week of unpaid leave just to help her readjust, which seriously impacted my paycheck. Any hours that were given to me really were a blessing." Gary Clark, 566th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron production controller who requested 48 hours, has not received any of his hours, which he requested to help replace his annual leave and not exhaust any more of it. He lives in Carney, 50 miles northeast of Tinker. His mother's home, barn, outbuildings and car were destroyed. Additionally, Mr. Clark's truck and work car were also deemed a total loss. "I initially was off for 48 hours of work and have been off a total of 32 hours since the initial time due to overseeing the cleanup and construction of my mother's new home," he said. "That's not counting weekends and working late nights after work. "Without experiencing this type of trauma, no one can really explain nor understand what type of emotions a person deals with," Mr. Clark said. "Only those that have gone through similar circumstances would know why they would want to donate time or leave." To donate, call Ms. Michaelis at 739-7516.