Union workers at AEDC help kids buy presents for Christmas

  • Published
  • By Kathy Gattis
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Imagine taking 41 kids ages three through 18 on a shopping spree to Walmart on Saturday - two weeks before Christmas... sound like fun?

Well, that is just what Annette Painter and some of her International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2113 coworkers do every year along with many salary folks from Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA). Painter is a financial secretary for the IBEW 2113.

The program is called Kids for Christmas, but these kids aren't buying gifts for themselves.

"Foster kids in the surrounding area get presents for Christmas from angel trees and through other support organizations, but we do something a little different; we give them money to buy presents to give for Christmas and they absolutely love it," Painter said.

"The kids are so happy over buying gifts for family members; to be able to give and to share is what Christmas is all about," she said.

The IBEW doesn't begin its fundraising until November. They collect donations from union members and the Air Engineering Metal Trades Council (AEMTC) donates, ATA makes a donation and Arnold Community Council does too. The remainder is raised through chili and hotdog lunches across the base, and Painter says there is a little friendly competition among the groups at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC).

"Reina Shanks, Glenda Perry, Frankie Powers and I were able to donate $1,384 from one of these events (lunch) in Range G," Painter said. "ETF (Engine Test Facility) always comes close to beating us and of course PWT (Propulsion Wind Tunnel) is a tough competitor. I expect both ETF and PWT will raise more than $1,000 each this time."

Evelyn Curlee, the wife of Tullahoma's mayor, works with the Department of Children's Services to contact foster parents and invite kids to participate.

Coffee County Mayor David Pennington provides a room at the Coffee County Administrative Plaza for the day. Everyone meets at the plaza, and volunteers take the kids to Walmart to buy their Christmas presents.

After shopping, kids return to the plaza for a pizza party, to wrap their gifts and yes, even Santa Claus stops by for a visit. Painter's team buys 26 pizzas, cases of water and other drinks and buys wrapping paper, bows, tags and boxes.

If there is any money left over, they take a family or individual in need shopping or help a family who has a sick child with serious medical problems. One year, they gave to a family whose house had burned the week before Christmas. It is always something different.

AEMTC President Jimmy Nance praised Annette and the IBEW 2113 for continuing to support this event year after year. "Annette does a great job leading the effort for the union, and I am so proud of our AEDC family for the way they contribute to any worthy cause," he said. "I've worked at AEDC for 12 years, and it has been like this since I started; people are always ready to give and help."

Nance says he thinks the kids are learning an important lesson through Kids for Christmas. "We live in a society where sometimes it seems like it's 'all about me.' Through Annette and other AEDC employees, these foster kids are learning how good it feels to give."

Painter first became involved in Kids for Christmas in 2001, became the group leader in 2003 and now, ten years later, Painter says this the event is something she looks forward to every year.

"When I first started doing the event, my daughter was eight years old, and I took her with me to help teach her that we all need to help others and try to make their Christmas a little happier," Painter said.

Shortly after she began working with Kids for Christmas, Painter and her husband decided they wanted to be foster parents. They did this for a few years before busy schedules forced them to stop.

She says being a foster parent brings a mixture of emotions - happiness, stress, sadness and love. One thing she is grateful for is the daughter she gained through the foster care system.

"Her parents asked me to take her in four years ago, and they have since died," said Painter. This same girl was once a foster child in Painter's home. "We are truly blessed to have this talented and smart child in our lives," she said.

Kids for Christmas started 28 years ago when the president of the IBEW 2113 and a few other union members were sitting in a meeting trying to come up with something to benefit the community. Painter said they first tried delivering food boxes and then one of the guys had the idea to help foster kids.

Painter says there are many special memories, but something she will never forget is when one of the kids thanked her and told her he wouldn't return next year because he was being adopted. "Let me tell you, it is all you can do to keep from breaking down and crying right there over how happy they are at that moment."

Last year Kids for Christmas gave each child $130 to spend. Money was still being collected at press time for the Dec. 14th event.