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Altus AFB supports Denton Amendment with delivery of donations to Haiti

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kenneth W. Norman
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Members of the 58th Airlift Squadron, 97th Security Forces Squadron, and 97th Maintenance Directorate delivered 50,000 pounds of humanitarian aid donations to Haiti June 22, 2012, thanks to the Denton Amendment.

The Denton Amendment permits the Department of Defense to provide transportation of privately donated humanitarian cargo to foreign countries using military transportation on a space-available basis.

All the donations were provided by Operation Ukraine, a non-profit relief organization that collects and distributes supplies around the world. The donations included $17,000 worth of split beans, and $1,000 in medical supplies.

"I think it's great that we live in a country where we can do stuff like this and there are people willing to volunteer and provide all this food, medical supplies and equipment," said Maj. Matthew Martin, 58th AS aircraft commander. "I'm glad that we are in a position where we can fly down here and deliver all of these donations."

The donations were delivered to Mission Lifeline in Haiti, which cares for 11,000 men, women and children.

"This benefits my country because when they bring down food it helps our kids to eat very well and the kids love the food," said Robernson Maccellus, guardian at Mission Lifeline in Haiti. "I feel very good because our country needs help, and this is how [the United States] supports our country."

Since Altus AFB is a training base, flying a real-world mission was a change of venue for the members of the 58th AS.

"I feel good - it's knocking the rust off because I haven't done a real-world mission in a while," Martin said. "This helps keep my skills sharp and keeps me familiar with overseas procedures and approaches."

Thanks to the men and women of Altus AFB and all of the supporting organizations, 11,000 people in Haiti will receive food and additional medical supplies.

"This is great for the United States because it helps develop public relations around the world, but it also helps developing countries who need some outside assistance to improve their lives," Martin said.