Federal Center employees deliver Christmas at Salvation Army
 By Jeff Landenberger
  At the end of each year Defense Logistics Agency employees at the Hart Dole Inouye Federal Center in Battle Creek, Michigan, work together to make the holidays a little brighter for families in need. **Representing all the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center employees who took part in the Adopt-A-Family program are Defense Logistics Agency Logistics Information Services Director Renee Hubbard, DLA Disposition Services Deputy Director Army Col. Fran Taylor, DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon, DLA Installation Management Site Director Bill Jerome, Tiffany Schmidt, chief of Battle Creek, Michigan Morale, Welfare and Recreation join Kyle Moody a ministry intern with the Salvation Army in a group photo.




Six people next to a stack of Christmas gifts.
        Group photo
            Representing all the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center employees who took part in the Adopt-A-Family program are Defense Logistics Agency Logistics Information Services Director Renee Hubbard, DLA Disposition Services Deputy Director Army Col. Fran Taylor, DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon, DLA Installation Management Site Director Bill Jerome, Tiffany Schmidt, chief of Battle Creek, Michigan Morale, Welfare and Recreation join Kyle Moody a ministry intern with the Salvation Army in a group photo.

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                    Photo By: Jeff Landenberger
                    
                    VIRIN: 211203-D-YU183-077**Working with the local Salvation Army, DLA Installation Support’s Battle Creek Morale, Welfare and Recreation staff coordinate the Federal Center’s Adopt-A-Family Program. The program includes veterans that are patents at the local Veteran Affairs hospital and other families in the community. Tiffany Schmidt, chief of Battle Creek MWR, is also the volunteer coordinator for The Adopt-a-Family Program. “My family and I have been involved with the program for years, it is part of my family’s tradition,” Schmidt said. “Each year the generosity of the HDI employees grows.” As with all the volunteers, DLA Logistics Information Services Director Renee Hubbard used her vacation time to join the team early to organize the packages as they came in. DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon, DLA Disposition Services Deputy Director Army Col. Fran Taylor, and DLA Installation Management Site Director Bill Jerome slipped away from their offices after morning meetings and assisted the volunteers in organizing packages for the families. **On Friday, December 3, 2021 Michael J. Kerrigan was holding down three jobs, Defense Logistics Agency lawyer with the office of General Council, U.S. Army Reserve Capt. and for a family in Battle Creek, Michigan the most important, a Stand-in Santa as he delivered Christmas cheer as part of the Adopt-A-Family program that he and his fellow Hart-Dole-Inouye employees supported.




A man in an Army uniform carries a package outside .
        Outside
            On Friday, December 3, 2021 Michael J. Kerrigan was holding down three jobs, Defense Logistics Agency lawyer with the office of General Council, U.S. Army Reserve Capt. and for a family in Battle Creek, Michigan the most important, a Stand-in Santa as he delivered Christmas cheer as part of the Adopt-A-Family program that he and his fellow Hart-Dole-Inouye employees supported.

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                    Photo By: Jeff Landenberger
                    
                    VIRIN: 211203-D-YU183-008**The community outreach doesn’t happen by itself, it requires volunteers to coordinate and plan as well as those to fulfill the wish list of gifts and food. Two of these volunteers include Connie Ehredt and Kyle Moody. Ehredt retired from the federal center but continues her involvement in the program. “I have been a part of Adopt-a-Family now for 27 years, I have done everything from the coordination to the delivery site to wrapping, I have done it all,” she said. Moody is a ministry intern with the Salvation Army. He has been with the organization for almost a year but has only been in Battle Creek for three months. “Since I have been here my co-workers and boss have told me how much of a blessing the Federal Center has been to the community, how they look forward to working with them each Christmas,” Moody said. Moody added as he contacted families to let them know they had been adopted by the federal center some expressed emotion knowing that the federal center employees strive to bless their adopted families. **Andrew VanKoevering a Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services employee at the Battle Creek, Michigan Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center moves packages of Christmas Cheer through the halls of the Salvation Army. The packages were collected as part of the Adopt-A-Family program that the federal employees participate in to help local families during the holidays.




A man pulls a flat cart with Christmas packages on it in a hallway.
        Hallway
            Andrew VanKoevering a Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services employee at the Battle Creek, Michigan Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center moves packages of Christmas Cheer through the halls of the Salvation Army. The packages were collected as part of the Adopt-A-Family program that the federal employees participate in to help local families during the holidays.

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                    Photo By: Jeff Landenberger
                    
                    VIRIN: 211203-D-YU183-022**“I am really just impressed with the work they do for the community,” Moody said. “Knowing that the Federal Center employees can come together and help make some of our neighbors holiday a little brighter is a great feeling,” Jerome said. “I had my children help shop for some of the families we adopted...It’s the most important part of the season, to take care of others and help where you can. This is a great program.”