More than 200 post leaders, elected officials, families, friends and co-workers gathered at Patriot Club April 26 for the Helping Hands awards ceremony to honor those who selflessly serve the community.
Because volunteers contribute so significantly to Fort Sill and surrounding communities, Jean Mills, Army Community Service director and master of ceremonies for the event, said the post has a formula for calculating the monetary value of their efforts.
"Last year, they contributed over $2 million; there wouldn't be as much direct support and extra touch to countless programs and services here if Fort Sill didn't have these dedicated volunteers," she said.
The ceremony concluded a week focused on recognizing volunteers, a measure of recognition new to the post's senior ranking officer.
"Connie and I have been to a lot of installations who have recognized their volunteers," said Maj. Gen. Mark McDonald, Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill commanding general. "But, we have never been at an installation that takes an entire week where the leadership takes time and everyone gets together to socialize and celebrate volunteers."
The ceremony recognized three people as volunteers of the year in the spouse, active duty or civilian employee, and retiree categories. They were:
-- Carrie Wulf, who earned the spouse award for her work with the Fort Sill Girl Scouts and her leadership of the 2-4th Field Artillery family readiness group;
-- Spc. Kalief McMillan, 529th Network Support Company, the active-duty recipient, who helped form 20-Something, a group that recruits Soldiers, family members and friends to volunteer together, make friends, help others and have fun; and
-- Rose Mary Bazor, American Red Cross, who sat on the Red Cross station advisory council, served at the Lawton Veteran's Center and Fort Sill tax center. On top all that, she's served as the treasurer of the Active and Retired Federal Employees Association since 2005.
An appropriate number for the 20-year-old Soldier, McMillian said 20-Something began as an activity to get younger Soldiers out doing things without getting in trouble.
"On weekends there's not much to do, so I'm just trying to help people; I've noticed there's a lot of people who need that around here, and I'm just doing the best of my ability to provide that help," he said.
Wulf followed her husband who took command of the 696th Forward Support Company, by leading the company's FRG.
"I don't have a paying job, I have a volunteer job and call myself a professional volunteer it's what I do," she said. "It's important for my own daughters to grow up knowing what it means to be a good citizen with good morals and on the right path," she said.
Bazor continues to give to the post and local community, because she believes as a retiree she needs to keep giving and she enjoys helping people. She added Fort Sill would be a sad place if there weren't any volunteers.
The ceremony also honored Mike Anderson and Becky Skinner, two inductees into the Fort Sill Volunteer Hall of Fame. The names of the two people will be inscribed on a plaque displayed in the Welcome Center, in Building 4700.
Anderson amassed 3,544 hours as a 10-year volunteer at the tax center. His efforts saved taxpayers more than $800,000 in filing fees and realized more than $8 million in tax refunds.
Skinner rolled up 2,276 hours with the Red Cross and FMWR events. She also served as president of the American Legion Auxiliary, co-directed her church Bible school, and pitched in as a Veterans Affairs office assistant. And, somehow it seems appropriate that someone with the name Skinner would volunteer with the Apache Rattlesnake Association.
But, recognition only scratched the surface at that point. The ceremony included Helping Hand awards for 21 people who served at agencies such as the American Red Cross, The Fort Sill Thrift Shop and Operation Homefront. It also recognized another 25 individuals who gave their time to military units on post.
Ryan Jones was one of those volunteers, now retired from active duty but working for 2nd Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery as a civilian employee. He discovered his love for volunteering when he arrived at Fort Sill while still a Soldier.
"I'm very active with the Special Olympics in Lawton and that started when the 2-6th ADA was in charge of the track and field portion while I was a Soldier," he said. "After that first time, I realized I don't miss an event it's infectuous."
Mills said there are more than 5,000 military and civilian volunteers at Fort Sill. Keeping track of their hours could be a daunting task, however, the Volunteer Management Information System takes care of that. Most volunteers track their own hours compiling data that can be used toward the Army Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal or comparable civilian awards. For the rest, organizational points of contact sum up their hours. Since they do so without pay, the ceremony recognized those individuals, too.
Finally, 14 volunteers gave more than 2,000 hours service in 2012 alone. Bazor topped that list with 4,267 hours, or nearly half the total number of hours in the year.
McDonald summed up what volunteers mean to Fort Sill.
"A lot of people say they support Soldiers and their families just about everyone wants to take credit for it and then there are a few who really do," he said. "I'm looking at that group now, and we can't thank you enough. You make Fort Sill a special place."
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