Overflowing generosity

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Thomas Dow
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  When Maj. Jay Block, chief of quality assurance for the 91st Maintenance Group, addressed a group of insurance agents from North Dakota May 1, he had no idea it would spiral into a storm of compassion and kindness that would raise almost $14,000 in 30 minutes.

The speech that sparked those in attendance to willingly give of themselves was about the humanitarian aid Major Block, his wife Kelli, and his fellow Airmen gave while he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2005. The major said he viewed his presentation as a chance for people to see a more human side to what the U.S. military is doing there.

While deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, Major Block and other Airmen regularly visited an orphanage to spend time with the children. They would talk and play with the children, becoming close with many of them. The major would often send photographs back to his wife, letting her see the faces of the children he had grown so fond of.

It was these images that instantly made Mrs. Block want to see what she could do to help.

"The thing that struck me was he was there in the winter, and I saw pictures of these kids and nobody had shoes on," she said.

She started contacting churches and schools at Peterson AFB, Colo., where they were stationed at the time, and explained what she was seeing through her husband's pictures. Thanks to Mrs. Block's tireless efforts, she soon amassed a large supply of donated school supplies, clothing, shoes and other items many Americans take for granted.

Her task soon fell to getting the donated items over to the children in Kabul. As luck would have it, she was able to make contact with someone in Salt Lake City who was not only in the Army National Guard, but also worked for a shipping company. With his assistance, they were finally able to ship the much-needed clothing and supplies to the children in the orphanage.

While getting the shipment to the desired location proved to be a rockier path than anticipated, the entire process came to fruition when Mrs. Block received a photo of her husband posing with the boxes and the shipping document she signed in Colorado.

"It was vital to have those pictures of OUR specific boxes," she said. "When we bring the photo of my husband holding the shipping invoice, they can see that their donations got where they were supposed to."
Both the major and Mrs. Block said being able to see images of the humanitarian project from cradle to grave, the gratitude on the faces of the children who received the items, and maybe someone recognizing an item they had donated is what drives people to give more of themselves. They definitely felt it is what sparked the firestorm of unsolicited, selfless giving of almost $14,000 in 30 minutes by the insurance agents and financial planners who attended the major's presentation.

"I cannot tell you how emotional and unexpected it was watching this display of generosity," said Major Block. "It is amazing that locals here in Minot raised $13,800 just from seeing photos."

Mrs. Block said in other places there may have been other results, but here the people are more willing and show a consistent drive to help others. It's that sense of community and caring that may have started with a small gesture of kindness, but grew into overflowing generosity.

Major Block and his wife Kelli will soon be leaving Minot AFB, but have left the ongoing Afghan donation project in capable hands. For more information, contact 727-2022.