Photo By Robert Lingley | PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Volunteers pose at the RePete Thrift Shop on...... read more read more
Alley Kendall knew she wanted to get involved in the community when she and her husband, Senior Airman Jesse Kendall, arrived at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., in 2015.
Kendall found that opportunity in the Peterson, Schriever, Cheyenne Mountain Spouses Club. She is now president of the nonprofit organization, which aims to connect military spouses with each other, with base resources and with opportunities to give back to the Colorado Springs, Colo. community.
“It’s a place to find quality people and get involved,” Kendall said.
Whether they are serving lunch at the Springs Rescue Mission, passing out essential items to homeless residents downtown, or spreading holiday cheer to Airmen during their Cookies for the Troops event each November, the club’s 40 members aim to reciprocate the goodwill they receive from the people of Colorado Springs.
“Often times, we’re only assigned to a base for a short period of time, and we end up receiving so much from the community,” said Alicia Pepper, wife of Col. Devin Pepper, 21st Operations Group commander.
“Over the years, we as a whole have directed more toward what we can give back to the community.”
The earliest iteration of the PSC Club began in the late 1970s on Peterson AFB, Colo., as the Peterson AFB Officers’ Wives Club, Kendall said.
As membership extended to spouses of enlisted members, it also eventually stretched beyond the gates of Peterson AFB to neighboring Schriever AFB and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo.
“It opens up a bigger community,” Kendall said. “I love what the club has done for me and the friends I’ve made.”
In addition to community outreach, the club provides ample opportunities for spouses to bond, Kendall said. Members meet twice a month inside the Tierra Vista Community Center on Peterson AFB to chat over coffee while their children play together. The final Wednesday of each month is reserved for the Lunch Bunch, held at The Club on Peterson AFB.
“We try and have a good variety of events so everyone can find what they’re missing,” Kendall said.
Club members oversee the RePete Thrift Shop, located at 105 Selfridge St., Building 1525, on Peterson AFB. Proceeds from the shop go toward annual scholarships for military spouses and high school seniors who are dependents of active-duty or retired Department of Defense employees, said Pepper, PSC Spouses Club scholarship chair.
The club generally gives anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 in scholarships annually, Pepper said.
Children of active duty military members usually move at least once before graduating high school, Pepper said. They often want to return to their previous home for college, but out-of-state tuition makes that a struggle, she said.
“Scholarships need to be available for them as much as we can figure out a way to help them,” Pepper said.
The most recent round of applications opened Jan. 15, 2019, and will run through March 15, 2019. Applications include a traditional rubric as well as an essay question, Pepper said.
“We want to know who we’re giving them to,” she said. “What makes the individual? What is your story?”
Anyone interested in joining the PSC can do so online at www.pscspousesclub.org.
“I have a whole network of friends everywhere, and it’s because of this club,” Kendall said. “At our core we’re about making friends, having fun and giving back.”
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 02.13.2019 13:18 |
| Story ID: | 309218 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, PSC Club unites spouses across bases, by Robert Lingley, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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