Cookies and a trip home for the holidays have something in common for airmen at Minot Air Force Base.

Both are programs to help make the holiday season cheerier for the airmen while also being collaborative efforts between the base and the local community.

The annual cookie drive for airmen has become a longtime tradition for the base and the Minot community to come together to provide hundreds of home baked cookies to be distributed to young airmen.

The sweet treats go to young airmen living in the dorms who might be away from their families for the first time during the holidays. The cookies are packaged at the base and then delivered to the airmen.

One of the local bakers who has provided home baked cookies for the annual drive is Tammy Gillmore of Minot. She is in her 15th year of baking cookies for the cookie drive. According to the Minot Area Chamber EDC, when Gillmore dropped off her donation of cookies this year at the chamber office she broke her previous record by making 156 dozen cookies in 35 different flavors for the cookie drive.

We commend and thank Gillmore along with all the other bakers and volunteers who donate their time and work to the Team Minot Cookie Drive.

More recently, another program was started to send airmen home for the holidays.

Operation Home for the Holidays is a collaborative effort between the base and the Minot Area Chamber EDC.

Last year was the first time the community took on the Operation Home for the Holidays project, according to Tom Ross, Minot mayor.

Raffles with prizes and donations provided by business, the annual Prairie Warrior Auction and other donations support the project to make it possible for a number of airmen to go home to be with their families during the holidays.

In 2024, 117 airmen were recipients of the program and this year the final total is 138, according to Minot AFB information.

Both of these programs are a way for this area to show its appreciation to the men and women serving our country.