JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Ray Stewart III, the general manager for the Southern Alaska Exchange presented Air Force Col. George T.M. Dietrich III, 673d Air Base Wing and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson commander, a check for $882,383 at the community action council, May 11.
Soldiers, Airmen and families who shopped and dined at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Exchange in 2016 generated nearly $900,000 to support the installation’s Quality-of-Life programs.
The funds are funneled into the Morale, Welfare and Recreation budget to pay for things like equipment, playgrounds and outdoor recreational events.
“It’s a huge support for everything we provide here – almost $900,000 in a year going directly back into our MWR programs to provide services for our Airmen, Soldiers and their families,” Dietrich said. “That’s amazing,”
The Army & Air Force Exchange Service provides a dividend from sales every month, so the more people shop on base, the more they contribute to base programs, Stewart said.
“My father was in the military, I was in the military, my wife’s retired Air Force,” Stewart said. “The military is my life. We are a part of the military community, we’re one family. The Exchange is here to support our Soldiers and Airmen – we go where you go.”
For information on MWR events and activities visit www.jberlife.com.
“I think our MWR programs here at JBER are the best in the department of defense,” Dietrich said. “We have a lot of resources that go into it and we provide a lot of services. The AAFES dividend is a big part of that.”