LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The 633rd Force Support Squadron Airman & Family Readiness Center holds monthly "Hearts Apart" events for families of deployed members, or members who are on an unaccompanied short tour. This way they have a way of keeping in touch with their loved ones.
On Friday, Jan. 20, the A&FRC also made it possible for dependants to record Valentine's Day video messages, so they can be sent to their deployed loved ones wherever they're at.
"We've held the deployed-video message event many times before, but this is only the second year in a row that we've done a specific video for Valentine's Day," said Master Sgt. Dawn Chapman, 633rd FSS Readiness NCO-In Charge. "This video is a way for dependants to give something back to their deployed member on Valentine's Day."
Along with the video messages, the families also created cards to mail to their deployed loved ones.
"I'm grateful to the staff of the A&FRC for allowing us to make these cards and the video," said Heather Farnsworth, wife of Senior Airman Wesley Farnsworth of the 633rd Air Base Wing Public Affairs office, who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. "The A&FRC is great, and they offer a lot of events for dependants."
Family members can send as many videos as they want, but each video has a time limit.
"We encourage people to record however many videos as they want to deployed loved ones," said Chapman, "they have to be a maximum of five minutes because of finalization which requires more time. Plus, there are other families to consider."
There are opportunities to volunteer for those who want to help with the monthly "Hearts Apart" program, or the annual Valentine's Day videos.
"We always take volunteers for the monthly 'Hearts Apart' program events," said Chapman, "We had about six volunteers for the Valentine's Day event. Plus, the office staff is usually always involved with any monthly event we hold."
For more information about the "Hearts Apart" program, monthly events, and/or volunteer opportunities at the A&FRC, call Chapman at 764-3990.