GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Once a month the 17th Communications Squadron dedicates a day to helping out the local community. For the month of October, Staff Sgt. Adam Baty, 17th CS client systems technician, chose his squadron to help out San Angelo’s Habitat for Humanity center.
Baty picked Habitat for Humanity because of his familiarity with their organization.
“It’s one of the biggest and most well-known charity organizations throughout the nation,” said Baty. “They really help the community. It’s one of those places I knew that we could get out as a squadron and put our faces out there and it would be known.”
At the center, the volunteers mostly re-organized materials to be sold and cleaned the building.
“None of the stuff actually in here is used in the building of the house, all of this is actually donated from the local community,” said Baty. “So we really just are trying to prep everything for the actual event. They do it once a month as a fundraising event. The proceeds go to the actual materials Habitat for Humanity uses to build the houses. Sheet rock, the wood, the nails, all that’s not actually donated. This helps offset those costs, so they do this every month, in addition to other events they host.”
Habitat for Humanity is an organization dedicated to building homes to those not able to afford them. According to their website, they also help with disaster response by helping rebuild communities in the wake of natural disasters. Baty felt honored to help them out.
“I wouldn’t pick anything else. I wanted to do something that I knew I could get a lot of people in our squadron to get behind, and I knew Habitat for Community would do that,” said Baty. “I’ve worked with them before I joined the Air Force. It feels good knowing that I’m helping, even though we’ve been really just moving stuff around all day and cleaning, I know it goes to a benefit. They don’t have a big office, so to get 20 extra helping hands makes a big difference.”
On volunteering, Baty is thankful for his leadership for fostering an environment to allow these events to come to fruition.
“Our leadership gave us no extreme parameters, I had a lot of freedom to pick what I wanted when it came to community involvement and I liked the incentive that came from that,” said Baty. “I think it’s pretty nice that our squadron has decided to do something like this, and though it’s not necessary for us to do something like this, I like being encouraged to lead a volunteer event. It’s my decision and we’re always helping.”