An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Airman & Family Readiness hosts annual Back-to-School Brigade

  • Published
  • By Christi Spargur
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Six-hundred school-aged military children registered to attend the annual Back-to-School Brigade on July 22.

The event was a collaboration by the three Airman & Family Readiness Centers at Scott Air Force Base—the 126th A&FRC (Guard), the 932nd A&FRC (Air Force Reserve), and the 375th A&FRC (Active-Duty)—with Operation Homefront and Back 2 School Illinois. Each student received a kit of grade-level specific school supplies and a backpack.

Operation Homefront program manager Chelsea Dresen said, “Our mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so they can thrive in the communities that they worked so hard to protect. We want to do everything we can do to give them a hands up.”

Matthew Kurtzman, chief executive officer, Back 2 School Illinois, said it will distribute more than 35,000 school supply kits throughout the state to a variety of civic organizations from Boys and Girls Club of Chicago to Operation Homefront.

“Working with the military is extra special,” said Kurtzman. “The military has extra challenges that most families don’t experience; deployments for example. We want to support them and their children. This is our way of giving back.”

The Back-to-School Brigade also included an information and resource fair with several base helping agencies such as the Base Chapel, Military One Source, and Family Advocacy. Community groups like Boy Scouts and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Southwestern Illinois also participated, and the USO of Missouri’s mobile unit provided refreshments.

In addition, the Illinois Freemason’s Lodge provided parents an opportunity to prepare an identification packet of their child’s fingerprints, DNA, and physical description as part of the Illinois Child Identification Program.