Airmen and their families enjoyed a free dinner and an evening filled with a variety of activities at the Hearts Apart dinner, June 6, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The semi-annual event was hosted by the McChord Chapel, commanders, senior enlisted and first sergeants to support families of recently, presently, and soon-to-be deployed airmen.

"I think it's important to provide a support network to the spouses and the children of airmen deploying," said 2nd Lt. David Wallace, 627th Logistics Readiness Squadron assistant operations officer and event coordinator. "We are one big community and it's our responsibility to support our servicemembers and their families on and off duty."

The night was Hawaiian-themed and more than 30 airmen and their families were provided a free, catered meal served by leadership.    

"The individual role of servicemembers is essential to achieve the mission, and every family member that enables us to do the mission is just as important," said Col. William Percival, 627th Air Base Group commander. "We value you and thank you for all you do for us."

The informal dinner allowed airmen to attend in civilian attire with their spouses and children. Over dinner, the movie Moana was played on the chapel's big screens to provide entertainment.

"I like that the chaplains come together and put this on for everyone because we don't always hear about stuff going on," said Madison Stebbins, military spouse. "It's nice to know they thought of us and that we can participate in this as a family."

Families taking part in the raffle were given the opportunity to win a variety of prizes, to include board games, camping gear, floatation devices and kitchenware.

"This is the second one I've been to; this was fun, said Stebbins. "The food was good and the kids really enjoyed it."

Volunteers from the 627th LRS added to the fun by manning the dunk tank, face painting and making snow cones.

"I think this was an absolute success," said Wallace. "Whether one person or two hundred show up, as long as we have an opportunity to give back to our deployed families, it's a win."

For more information on McChord Field Chapel sponsored events, contact the chapel at 253.982.5556.