Donating bottle caps aids disabled in Turkey

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jarvie Z. Wallace
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE --  Incirlik residents looking to contribute to the Turkish community can do so by donating hard plastic bottle caps to the Bottle Cap Program to help the disabled.

The program, currently spearheaded by Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Champagne, 39th Security Forces Squadron Pass and Registration office NCO in charge, and Staff Sgt. Nicole Mack, 39th Force Support Squadron career development journeyman, allows participants to donate their used bottle caps to the Turkish Disabled Organization. The caps are recycled and the proceeds provide wheelchairs for people in the community.

"It's a good way to give back to the local community," said Mack "It lets the Turkish people know that we actually care."

Established in 1960, the Turkish Disabled Organization uses funds from recycled materials to provide assistance to disabled members of the community. The non-profit organization is funded from donations.

Bottle caps from water bottles, juice bottles and any other container with a plastic cap are welcome for donation. Collection bins are set up around the base.

The impact of this program struck a cord with Mack and persuaded her to get involved.

"It was something that I really took to heart," said Mack. "I have family members who are handicapped and struggled to get the care they needed and I understand the difficulty and the expense that's involved."

Seeing the outcome and how the program touched the lives of the needy, Champagne was in inspired to partake in the project, which was started by a former colleague in 2011.

"We see Turkish nationals day in day out and most of us work with them," said Champagne. "They are our counterparts that we work with everyday. Us doing something as small as this shows a lot of what we have inside and what we're all about."

Donations can be delivered to the Military Personnel Section at Bldg 833.

For more information on the program, email Champagne at Jeffrey.champagne@incirlik.af.mil or Staff Sgt. Cheryce Robinson at cheryce.robinson@incirlik.af.mil.