Kirsta Glaister

Share your military spouse story:
My military spouse story is unique in that I met my husband in kindergarten in 1995! While we communicated throughout school, we did not start dating until 2007. Soon after, we both found ourselves in college where he then decided to join the Air Force in 2011. Neither one of us finished school before we were married later that same year and he whisked us off to his first duty station in North Carolina, 10 hours away from home. Being homesick and a newlywed couple, I found myself so out of place in this new community, but slowly got involved with the spouses group, attending activities and meeting new people. We began trying for a family, but after a few sad endings, found that God did not think it was time for us yet. During our time here, my husband was sent out for two deployments, one 7 months, and one 8 months. During his second deployment in 2016, he was notified it was time to move on from North Carolina and head across the country to Wyoming. We were terrified of such a big move, but we instantly fell in love with the area the moment we arrived. My husband was assigned to the missile field, leaving for work several days up to a week at a time. I immediately threw myself into local events and activities and briefly got involved with some spouses club events, but found myself fascinated with the Airman's Attic. I began volunteering at the Attic in 2017 and I have been there ever since! In 2018, God decided it was time, and in September we welcomed our first son. My husband still trips out to the field, but we've been loving life so much in Wyoming for the past 7+ years that we are considering making it the place we settle down after military life!

Describe any leadership positions or provide an overview of your leadership contributions within the military community.
In 2018, I was presented with the opportunity to take over the manager position at the Airman's Attic and I enthusiastically accepted. I've worked hard to improve our presence in the military and local community and I've had the privledge of overseeing and working beside hundreds of different volunteers over the years. I have been lucky enough to coordinate and execute multiple donation drives, both for the Attic and for families in immediate need after devastating emergencies. In 2018, I worked with the spouses club to coordinate moving the new thrift shop into part of our building and arranged for the ALS class to help move the Attic around to make space for the thrift shop to move in. For the past few years, I have organized a Christmas gift table filled with free gifts for families during the holiday season. During COVID, I was able to coordinate appointment shopping and donation drop-offs every week to ensure safety in getting people the things they needed.

What programs or projects are you currently involved in that support the needs of military families?
The Airman's Attic is the biggest way I am involved with the military community. Since 2018, I have managed/volunteered for over 3,000 hours and over 150,000 collected items have left the facility to go home with families that needed them. Weekly, I coordinate donation pick-ups for households that do not have the time or ability to make it into donate, which has helped greatly during PCS season for families that are focused on getting their homes packed up - it's one less piece of stress that I am happy to remove from their to-do list! Recently, alongside the Cheyenne Community Aim Foundation and one of my assistant managers, I aided in the coordination and participation of giving out over 100 free Thanksgiving meals to base families. More than the attic, I was able to take part in the setup and clean up of certain events with 4 FSS (NC) and volunteered during the 2019 Cheyenne Frontier Days with 90 CE/WWA CFD Team (WY) to raise money for their squadron.

What moments best reflect your impact on building inclusive community among military spouses?
I support my community through donations and action, having served thousands of shoppers. In addition to collecting uniforms, clothing, food pantry items, and household good donations for our military community, I have been fortunate enough to foster relationships with several organizations within our local community. I have arranged for donations from the Attic that have not left after several months are boxed up and taken off base to local homeless and women's shelters, veteran support foundations and organizations that support local veterans, and even the local library, further supporting not just our military community, but our local community as well. Thanks to these relationships in the community, I have been able to further spread the word about our mission, and have gained some new donors and volunteers, continuing the cycle of support for the FE Warren community.

Identify your main advocacy effort and describe your personal connection to the cause.
I advocate for every military member and family stationed at this base, but new Airmen and new families are who I try to focus my outreach to. Having been a newly married spouse in a new state with no connections, I know and remember what it was like to be overwhelmed with not having the things I needed for my home and trying to find friendship. Dedicating my time to managing the Airman's Attic has allowed me to continue to provide an amazing resource for anyone new to military life, providing essential household goods for free and pulling in volunteers where some amazing friendships have been created.

Summarize your advocacy outreach strategies, including any events, media involvement, or other communication efforts.
Social media is key and I utilize it daily! I manage our Facebook page where I post all of our hours and information, as well as respond to every message and comment we get to ensure everyone on FE Warren has the knowledge about who we are and what we do, to ensure they have access to the items they need. In addition to this, I do my best to try to get information about the Airman's Attic to every person affiliated with FE Warren, from sharing to the spouses page and base specific facebook groups, to having information about the Attic in the Right Start/Newcomers Brief slideshow at the Airman Family Readiness Center, to being in contact with first sergeants across base to get their Airmen into our facility when it's needed.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
My hope is to get other spouses excited to volunteer within their community. The sense of community and friendships I have made in the past several years in this position is something I will forever be thankful for. It's a rewarding experience and something I believe most people would enjoy being a part of!