{"id":1156,"date":"2013-01-15T16:58:19","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T22:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicaffairs-sme.com\/pressrelease\/?p=1156"},"modified":"2013-01-15T16:58:19","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T22:58:19","slug":"exchange-store-manager-lends-a-helping-hand-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicaffairs-sme.com\/pressrelease\/?p=1156","title":{"rendered":"Exchange Store Manager Lends a Helping Hand in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEDIA CONTACT:\u00a0LTC Thomas Shrader
\nMEDIA ADVISORY: 13-001
\nRELEASE DATE:\u00a0Jan. 15,\u00a02013<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DALLAS \u2013 <\/strong>Putting in a 12- to 14-hour workday seven days a week in a combat zone would be enough excitement for most people. But Army & Air Force Exchange Service Store Manager Maria Schizas-Price<\/a> wanted to do more. So she volunteered with a local Navy detachment to reach out to the local community near her base in the Helmand River Valley in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

For the past few months, Price has worked with the Navy Preventive Medicine Detachment, Charlie Surgical Company CLR 15 at Camp Leatherneck to collect and distribute badly needed winter clothes and school supplies for local children. So far she and the Navy detachment have collected and distributed over 200 pounds of supplies to an orphanage in nearby Lashkar Gah.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have children and grandchildren of my own, and it would tear my heart out if they would have to go an entire winter without a decent coat to wear,\u201d said Price. \u201cBack in the States we sometimes take for granted simple things like school supplies. But out here children cherish them because they are often a rare luxury. Through the generosity of many, many donors these children are able to get a better education and endure the harsh winter,\u201d Price added.<\/p>\n

This is the third deployment for Price, and in some ways it has been the most satisfying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my job managing the local Exchange store here on Camp Leatherneck,\u201d said Price. The troops are fabulous.\u00a0 We really see the appreciation in their eyes when they can get that little taste of home like a can of their favorite soda or a bag of chips here in a combat zone. Plus helping the Afghan children makes it even more rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria Schizas-Price is one of 7,500 Exchange associates who have deployed since 9\/11.<\/p>\n

— 30 —<\/p>\n

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service is a joint non-appropriated fund instrumentality of the Department of Defense and is directed by a Board of Directors which is responsible to the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force through the Service Chiefs of Staff. \u00a0The Exchange has the dual mission of providing authorized patrons with quality merchandise and services at competitively low prices and generating non-appropriated fund earnings as a supplemental source of funding for military morale, welfare and recreation programs. To find out more about the Exchange history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our Web site at http:\/\/www.shopmyexchange.com<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

Media Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information or to schedule an interview with an Exchange representative please contact LTC Thomas Shrader, 214-312-2753 or shraderte@aafes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\t

\n\t