U.S. Air Force members will drop more than 20 tons of toys, medicines, clothing, food and tools on islands throughout Micronesia this week as part of "Operation Christmas Drop," according to Air Force officials at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
The effort marks the 57th year that the military and Guam residents have donated goods to the isolated islands throughout the Pacific, according to Maj. Graham Hicks, who heads the Christmas Drop organization this year.
The drop provides over-the-counter medicines, fabric for sarongs, fishing equipment, instant coffee and Spam to about 35,000 people, some of whom rarely come into direct contact with people elsewhere in the world, according to Hicks and Capt. Adam Rector, the group’s vice president this year.
“It’s a great treat out there,” Rector said during a telephone interview on Friday. “Most of them live off of coconut, crab and fish. This drop is their connection to the outside world.”
Volunteers work for months to gather the goods and bundle them onto pallets, the officers said.
Guam residents also contributed. This year, local rotary clubs contributed $12,000 worth of over-the-counter medicines, they said.
The drops were to begin Sunday and run six days. The Air Force will use three C-130s from the 36th Airlift Squadron from Yokota Air Base to make the trips. Each plane will make one flight a day, taking four to 10 pallets at a time.
The flights are technically training flights, Hicks said, though instead of using false drops, the crews can test their accuracy with real goods. All told, the drops will go to 68 islands throughout Micronesia and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The effort began shortly after World War II, when a military plane on Christmas day flew over one of the tiny islands and the crew saw residents waving. Crewmembers made a makeshift care package from its stock in the plane and parachuted it down, Hicks said.
The donations have continued to arrive by parachute, because the islands are spread far apart and most do not have airports, he said.
Each pallet contains some toys and games, Hicks said. “We try to concentrate on toys that don’t require batteries.”
