Once a month, the USONW Shali Center at McChord Field puts on their No Dough Dinner event, which serves to provide complementary meals to servicemembers and their families on the evening before payday. Each dinner caters to a specific unit, and the menu varies from month to month in order to switch things up.

The dinner takes place at 5 p.m. on or around the 15th of every month. On the dinner menu for the month of November: beef stew and fresh garlic bread, which permeated the air with an inviting scent for everyone who walked through the front door.

Although the fragrance of the meal was the initial welcoming factor, it was the warm and engaging atmosphere lifted by the spirits of the volunteers and grateful diners that made the evening most enjoyable.

"Personally, I believe it's (the dinners) a ‘thank you' to the troops and their family members. We like planning it around the middle of the month because it's just after the first payday, and it's just before the next one - that's where the ‘no dough' came from," explains volunteer and head cook Victor Kemp, who volunteers for the USO with his sister, Marina Baker.

"The joy of seeing the smiles on these guy's - and gal's faces," is what Kemp states as the reason he continues to participate in the monthly event. "Jovial" is certainly the right term for the festivities, and one look around the Shali Center during dinnertime made that evident.

As smiling volunteers passed out entreés to hungry servicemen and women gathered around tables, the low hum of comfortable chatter and animated laughter gave off vibes of a relaxed and laid-back environment. The peaceful end-result is actually the culmination of lots of planning and organizing.

"I plan every dinner two months in advance. I need to know who our cooks are, who our sponsors are, who our guests are, and who our volunteers are," says Shali Center manager Andrew Oczkewicz, who has organized all 35 No Dough Dinners the Shali Center has put on in the last four years. The USO currently has the next 17 dinner menus planned, and is always accepting suggestions for future units to take advantage of the gratuitous meals.

America's Credit Union and Tacoma Rotary #8 were the sponsors who came together for the month of November to sponsor the event. When asked about what the driving force behind the No Dough Dinners are, Tacoma Rotary #8 member Patrick Steel said, "We have the honor and privilege of serving those who are serving America, and it is a great gift for us to be here. Some of us have served in the past, so we recognize and welcome all of the young people who are today's armed forces. No one can bless them enough for the service that they provide to our country."

For more information about the USO and the No Dough Dinners, call 253.982.1100 or visit www.usonw.org/mcchord.php.