Base personnel devote time to community

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cortney Paxton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  MApril Cleanup, an annual event held for one Saturday in April and one in May, kicked off this past weekend with more than 100 volunteers from base cleaning up Great Falls and Black Eagle.

On April 27, volunteers from base, alongside volunteers from outside organizations around town, dispersed around the city to pick up trash along roadways, clean up alley ways and move large items to landfills.

"There are a lot of organizations that work [MApril Cleanup] but the base is the primary glue because they lend us the trucks that enable us to go around and pick up trash, discarded items and things people are putting out with the spring cleaning they're doing," said Carrie Koppy, Neighborhood Works director of resource development. "The Chamber of Commerce is also involved so I have a lot of businesses who field teams and they clean up parks, school areas or streets that are contiguous to their neighborhood. I also keep 10 miles of roadway open for civilian volunteers who want to help. Then we have service clubs that are involved and several non-profit organizations that field teams."

Volunteer teams from Malmstrom were comprised of members from all groups of Wing One; their reach spanning across the entire community.

"There are 56 miles of roadway that the base helps us clean up, and of the 56 miles, people from the base take 46 of those," Koppy said. "That's a pretty huge contribution to the community."

Contributing a large part to the effort were members of 341st Civil Engineer Squadron, who provided equipment to haul trash and discarded items.

"We have five dump trucks and four stake beds out there," said Tech. Sgt. David Garcia, 341st CES NCO in charge of pavements and equipment. "A lot of this would be really hard to do for the base itself and the community because our equipment is pretty big so we can haul a lot more stuff."

Garcia worked alongside Master Sgt. Al Saguin, 341st CES NCO in charge of missile grounds, to gather volunteers and equipment for the event. Both members have participated in the MApril Cleanup effort in the past, so having a role in the development of the event was something they both embraced.

"We're pretty much the main base coordinators for this whole deal," Saguin said. "Once we got word from Carrie, we spread the word to the base for the event this year. We pretty much got a hold of all of the group Point-Of-Contacts and passed on all of the information."

The volunteers' participation in the cleaning effort allows them a chance to get out and about in the community while strengthening the bond between the base and Great Falls.

"Building the relationship between the base and the local community I think is the most important thing," Saguin said. "We're showing that we care about the community and that we're here for whatever is needed."

"We just really appreciate the help" Koppy said. "It wouldn't be possible if Malmstrom wasn't here and contributing to this effort; or it would be a much smaller effort. We're just really grateful."

The MApril Cleanup event is scheduled to take place again on Saturday, May 18, and more volunteers are always welcome and needed. Anyone on base interested in taking part can contact their group POC to sign up or call Saguin at 731-6552 or Garcia at 731-6463 for more information.