One smart cookie: ROSC’s tasty project

Monica Mendoza
Kaiserslautern American


***image1***Just before the Christmas holiday Sharon Wheeler was in a baking mood. She baked six dozen cookies. Then, she asked all the members of the Ramstein Officers’ Spouses Club to each bake six dozen cookies. Then, she put the word out to the whole community.

There were young Airmen at Ramstein, living in the dorms and away from their families, who might be in a need of holiday cookie fix, she said.
“We had 1,128 bags, each with a dozen cookies, made for troops in the dorms,” Mrs. Wheeler said.

And just in case you did the math, that’s 13,536 cookies – from snicker doodles to chocolate chip to peanut butter.

“We are planning on doing it again next year,” Mrs. Wheeler said.
The ROSC cookie drive is just one of several volunteer service projects the club organizes every year, said Phyllis Jachowski, the 2006 ROSC volunteer coordinator.

“Our objective is to make people feel welcome to Germany, provide activities and functions to meet people and to provide volunteer service opportunities,” Mrs. Jachowski said.

The club is in full swing recruiting this month, readying for another year of volunteer service projects. They make meals for the Fisher Houses, collect cookies year round for the USO at the PAX terminal and volunteer over the holiday season at the Ramstein Post Office. In addition, ROSC members are part of the KMC Most Wanted program, where they assist other clubs and organizations year around, including Armedforces Against Drunk Driving.

Now is the time to sign up for one of many ROSC committees, including the Bazaar Committee and the Scholarship Committee. “You don’t have to be a member to sign up for the these committees,” Mrs. Jachowski said.

“People have a large number of reasons for volunteering – to meet people, to give back to the community, to help with children’s activities,” Mrs. Jachowski said. “You give service, but you get back too. It’s a natural human thing, wanting to reach out to each other.

• Join the USO Cookie Club. ROSC helps USO on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. USO is looking for others to donate cookies, fruit or other snacks every Thursday, where Airmen wait for flights. For more information, e-mail Ramstein-OSC@t-online.de or Michael Berry at mberry@uso.org.

• Thinking about joining ROSC? The club hosts Casino Carnivale, 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Ramstein Officers’ Club. The event is open to anyone who is eligible to join ROSC. For more information e-mail da_durand@yahoo.com. For details about club membership, visit www.RamsteinOSC.org.