Volunteers Feed Soldiers At WRWA Headed Home For The Holidays

Soldiers headed home from training at Fort Sill had full bellies Thursday morning before heading home for the holidays, thanks to volunteers from the Oklahoma City Police and Fire Departments.

The YMCA Military Welcome Center at WRWA set up the event and stocked it with food, drinks, and entertainment to ensure more than 1,000 military personnel had a good time while they waited for their flights home.

“The YMCA has been very proud to be a part of this,” said Rachel Klein with the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City, “and we love to continue doing this every year. We look forward to it.” Klein adds, “We’re proud to give back to the community and serve our community. This is a big part of what we do here at the Military Welcome Center.”

Thursday morning, the soldiers ate breakfast burritos. Wednesday night, they had pizza, hot chocolate, coffee, homemade cookies and Jersey Mike’s sandwiches.

Captain Ethan Fritz of the U.S. Army said this was a nice change compared to the food military personnel are used to.

“The food that they get to eat at the defact,” he said, “it’s usually not the best tasting. So, getting a little slice of pizza or Jersey Mike’s was really nice.”

Many of the servicemen will have to stay at the airport until Thursday evening. More busloads of military personnel will also arrive in the evening, along with more food and volunteers.