By Brian Hill, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — In an announcement June 28, Fort Leonard Wood’s Army Emergency Relief 2021 fundraising campaign was named No. 1 in the Army. In total, the three-month campaign raised $213,405, with 53.9 percent of service members here donating.
At a ceremony in Hoge Hall, Maj. Gen. James Bonner, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general, and MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood Command Sgt. Maj. Randolph Delapena presented two-star notes to Army Emergency Relief Officer Chuck Matthews and his team: volunteer coordinators 1st Lt. Rom Pollack, Company C, 795th Military Police Battalion, and Sgt. 1st Class Steven Hooper, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Engineer Brigade, along with Patricia McDonald and Kristina Stump.
“We had a really good campaign this year,” Matthews said at the ceremony. “We achieved all of our goals.”
Pollack and Hooper each also received Army Commendation Medals from Col. Jeff Paine, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Leonard Wood commander, and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Sean McGlensey for their roles throughout the campaign.
“I know how hard you worked,” Paine said. “You were out, getting after it, contacting units, not letting up — you guys are the ones who made the difference.”
In total, Pollack, Hooper and Stump briefed more than 7,400 service members in 104 units. The key to their success was tenacity, Hooper said. They went back to units multiple times when new cycles of trainees arrived.
“We were just persistent,” he added. “If it was 1830, 1900 we would do it. If that was the only time they could do it, we would be there. There were a lot of nights where we wouldn’t get home until 9 o’clock at night.”
Pollack said they were just honest with the service members they briefed — the program sells itself.
“We kept our briefings short and sweet,” he said. “We talked about the program, how it can help, and that you never know when you’ll need it.”
Matthews said even though the annual campaign has ended, anyone may donate to AER at any time.
To donate, call 573.596.2595 or 0212. To request AER assistance, call 573.596.3154.
Visit https://www.armyemergencyrelief.org for more information on the program.
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.
More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission