Local church thanks Airmen for service Published Sept. 29, 2010 By Airman 1st Class Jessica McConnell Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- A local Minot church donated cookies to Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen living in base dormitories here Sept. 24. "The church wanted to donate as a way of showing their thanks and appreciation to the men and women serving our country," said Master Sgt. Jason E. Miest, 5th Force Support Squadron first sergeant. Preparing the cookies began at the church days before the actual delivery. Local businesses and more than 100 church members contributed by either baking or donating a variety of cookies. "It's our way of thanking servicemembers for their service and we're getting a lot of participation," said Deborah Wakefield, church member and head coordinator of the event. "We had a lot of people donate more than what they originally signed up for. This donation coincides with an event we had for the city earlier in the month." More than 750 dozen cookies were donated to the Airmen. Boxes of cookies were delivered to each of the dorms' dayrooms on base. Extra cookies were sent to missile alert facilities, security forces facilities and maintenance crews on duty. The cookies were delivered by volunteers on base, most of them supervisors of the Airmen receiving the cookies. The volunteers were happy to deliver the cookies, recognizing that high morale is an essential element in accomplishing Team Minot's mission. "A lot of these Airmen work for us, so this is a great opportunity for us to show them our appreciation for what they do for us," said Tech. Sgt. Tammy Haugland, volunteer and 5th Medical Group noncommissioned officer-in-charge of physical therapy. "They're the workers, so hopefully the cookies will help boost their morale and positively influence their performance at work."