Shirts express gratitude to base, community Published Jan. 6, 2012 By Master Sgt. Mary Kiesling 58th Training Squadron first sergeant Kirtland Air Force Base, NM -- Members of the Kirtland First Sergeant Council are grateful to the base and local community for their gracious support of our holiday activities. Because of the support, we were able to distribute 456 food baskets for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday to servicemembers and their families. These baskets included a turkey, pie and the rest of the fixings for a delicious holiday meal. A big thanks goes to the Commissary for allowing us to build up the baskets and assist us in making the donated money go that much further. Along with the holiday food baskets, we also had the Angel Tree, in the Base Exchange foyer, that provided 114 donated gifts to families in need. For that, thanks go to the Base Exchange. Add to this the Airman's Attic toy drive, where more than 900 toys and $6,000 was donated. Finally, thanks to all the bakers out there, 496 Airmen who reside in the dormitories received homemade goodies. From these few activities, the feedback has been extremely positive and the council wanted to make sure that we publicly acknowledged the participants. It is all about Airmen helping Airmen, and to see such an outpouring of assistance this holiday season has been spectacular.