With the holidays fast approaching, this can be a challenging time for many airmen living in the dorms who are still becoming accustomed to being away from their families, and for some it can be the first holiday away from home.

Team McChord reached out to these airmen with Operation Cookie Drop 2015.

Operation Cookie Drop is a program in which base residents and community members donate homemade cookies to be hand delivered during the holidays from the McChord First Sergeants to the airmen in the dorms.

Team McChord answered the call for the amount of cookies it received and delivered to the airmen Dec. 9-10, at the McChord Field Chapel Support Center on McChord Field.

"This event was a huge success," said Chika Kosinski, wife of Col. Leonard Kosinski, 62nd Airlift Wing commander. "The amount of donations we received really shows how much people care about the airmen."

This was the first year that Operation Cookie Drop has been a big base-wide event and it showed in more than 12,000 cookies collected.

Katy Rhode, wife of Senior Airman Brandon Rhode, 62nd Operation Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment journeyman, has been an advocate for this program since her arrival at Joint Base Lewis-McChord four years ago.

"For the past three years, Operation Cookie Drop was a much smaller event," said Rhode. "We wanted it to be a bigger event, so we started planning and asking for cookie donations a lot earlier than before."

Many military members live far from family and friends and the holiday season can be a lonely one. Part of the purpose of the cookie drop was to show airmen living in the dorms that, while they are away from home, people still care.

"It is important to show that we support our own airmen," said Rhode. "I loved being a part of the Team McChord Operation Cookie Drop."