AMSAA employees sponsor local families during the holidays

By AMSAA Public AffairsDecember 15, 2014

AMSAA Holiday Family Committee
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

For more than 15 years, the Holiday Family Committee at the U.S. Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity (AMSAA) has donated time and money to sponsor families in need during the holiday season.

The 20-person committee hosted fundraisers throughout 2014 to sponsor 12 military families and 2 civilian families in the Aberdeen, Maryland, community. The committee collected about $4,000 in monetary donations and non-perishable items. The group also donated several boxes of food, household necessities, hats and gloves to the Harford Family House in Aberdeen.

"There are many members of our community who are struggling this holiday season," said Kristen Pettit, school counselor at Roye Williams Elementary where AMSAA sponsored three families. "The donations made were greatly appreciated."

Committee members organized a hot dog cookout, a themed basket silent auction, an Angel Tree, a Hat/Gloves/Scarf Tree, and Non-Perishable Collection Boxes. "AMSAA was able to make a direct impact on the lives of local military and civilian families this holiday season," said Dorothy Newcomer, Holiday Family Committee member. "The families sponsored were truly in need and were experiencing stressful and difficult circumstances."

Families were sponsored through Army Community Services, the Sexual Assault/Spouse Abuse Resource Center, Mason-Dixon Community Services, Roye Williams Elementary, and Havre de Grace Elementary.