Military members from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson facility will enjoy the Father’s Day weekend with camping through the American Heroes program.
One of the organizers, Michelle Williams said the individuals participating responded to fliers around JBER asking for people who wanted a one on one weekend with one of their children.
Williams: “They are soldiers who have children and they themselves are either being deployed or have been deployed, they haven’t had a lot of one on one time with their children so they are going to come down and be camping, they are going to go fishing, go clam digging, ride four wheelers, go to the race tracks, go to the swimming pools, have barbecues, great camping weekend things that will be a great bonding time for them to get to spend time with their kids and do things.”
She said that the trick for the participants was just picking one child to spend time with however the rest of their families will be joining them.
Williams: “Well the families are going to be coming down on Saturday night so they are going to have all day Friday and a majority of the day Saturday just one on one with one of their children and then the families have been invited to come down on Saturday night and on Sunday they’re going to ride four wheelers and horses and have a barbecue also so the rest of the family will get to come down on Saturday.”
The participants will be staying a Coho Cove Campground, a private campground that opened just for the program and Williams added that the local community has been outstanding at donating.
She said that they do still need a few volunteers if anyone is interested in helping the military members dig clams and assisting with cooking dinner if anyone is interested call Michelle at 907-394-5677.
