A Home Away from Home: Spreading Warmth and Joy to U.S. Troops in Poland
By Sameira Sharma and Martin Gagliano
The holiday season can be a tough time for those who are away from home. For U.S. military members and their families stationed at an international military base, this feeling can be particularly strong. Aerial Chen, Service to the Armed Forces specialist for the Northern California Coastal Region, has been deployed to Poland since July 2024 to support the Red Cross mission and bring a sense of home and warmth to the service members on base.
Aerial and volunteers from the morale team coordinate several activities year-round but get especially creative around the holidays. They are excited to organize holiday traditions, including decorating Santa hats, undertaking a holiday cooking challenge, baking holiday cookies from scratch, performing surprise caroling for the troops, building gingerbread houses, and more.
“For me, this holiday [season] reminds me to be grateful,” Aerial stated. “I am currently grateful for the warm weather, delicious food, and a supportive network of family, friends, and colleagues back home in California. I am especially grateful for the care packages that folks from our Red Cross teams and staff had been sending me as it truly helps to keep me motivated in supporting our service members.”
This particular deployment has challenges like no other for Red Crossers and service members alike. From experiencing sunset at 3 p.m., lacking access to a proper kitchen to cook, or being away from loved ones for a long time, these unique moments can be difficult. “To ease these hardships, the Red Cross has helped by facilitating fun morale events every day to keep people’s spirits up, providing cooking equipment that can be used in the Morale Welfare and Recreation tent, and offering free stamps and cards to send home to loved ones,” Aerial explained.
Service members are always encouraged to volunteer with the Red Cross. “They can recruit other volunteers, brainstorm and facilitate morale events, or keep the respite room clean and stocked with snacks, hygiene supplies, and coffee, among many other activities,” Aerial commented.
As a thank you note for Aerial and her amazing team, Sergeant Daniel Sotoluna shared a story that surely portrays the Red Cross mission in action: “It was a dark and cloudy day. We had been firing tanks and enduring the cold all day, and night was fast approaching. As we sat there in the cold huddled up like penguins, the wind howled and rushed past feeling sharp like a knife. As we started to go quiet, taking a break for a couple of hours, the Red Cross showed up like an angel coming to help us fight the cold,” he said. “Morale picked up quickly within the companies of 2-12 and even after enduring such harsh cold, soldiers were able to smile and ran towards the Red Cross. Not only was hot chocolate and coffee provided which warmed the soul, but they armed us with hand warmers to help us stay warmer longer during the night. With smiles on our faces and warm fluids in our bodies we prepared for the night and thanked the volunteers of the Red Cross for coming to our aid during training and the battle of the cold. Everyone appreciated how the Red Cross provided us with support and couldn’t wait to see them once again. Thank you, Red Cross.”
We are proud to be represented abroad by Aerial Chen and many other Red Crossers who dedicate their time to our humanitarian mission. Thank you for your service!
