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Cookie Caper brings cheer to Airmen

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Kathleen Eisenbrey
  • Joint Base Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii- --  The holidays will be a little cheerier for single Airmen living in unaccompanied housing at joint base and deployed Airmen and their families, thanks to the efforts of the 15th Wing and their annual Cookie Caper project.

Spouses and personnel from the 15th Operations Group also joined together with the Friends of Hickam to support operation Cookie Caper.

Donations of homemade cookies were provided by members of the local community, including 15th Wing spouses, elementary schools, Girl Scouts, banks and businesses. Elementary school children decorated each paper bag holding the homemade cookies.

"For most new Airmen, this is their first holiday season away from home," said Tonya Baldessari, 15th Wing Cookie Caper coordinator. "We want to give them a taste of home from their Air Force ohana."

From snickerdoodles to sugar cookies, chocolate crinkles to macaroons, and bon-bons to lemon cookies, Airmen receiving the heartfelt gifts will experience homemade kindness that warms the heart.

"This holiday season, I will be almost 6,000 miles away from my family," said Airman 1st Class Tiffanie Gaines, Clay Hall resident. "I am looking forward to the Cookie Caper program because it provides an opportunity to celebrate the holidays with my friends and neighbors in the dorms."

Another Airman was equally grateful for the cookies, stating that the hospitality reminded her of home.

In addition to providing cookies to single Airmen who reside in the dorms, 15th Wing first sergeants will send homemade cookies to deployed Airmen. Families of deployed Airmen will also be receiving gifts of homemade cookies.

The cookies have also been given to organizations such as Fisher House, Security Forces Squadron, Command Post, Tripler Army Medical Center, Hickam Chapel, Navy salvage divers, 15 Medical Group Pharmacy, fire department, golf course and USO at the Hickam Passenger Terminal.

"In total, we had a team of 59 volunteers and hundreds of bakers," said Baldessari. "We were able to collect 1,878 dozen cookies, that is 21,858 total cookies."