USO Alaska “Icebox” Opens at Eielson AFB

The USO opens its second USO Alaska Center at Eielson AFB on Saturday, February 4. The “soft open” is scheduled in time for a USO 76th anniversary celebration on Saturday, followed the next day with a Super Bowl party, complete with free pizza, root beer floats, snacks and prizes for Eielson’s military community. Saturday’s open house and birthday celebration runs from noon until 4 p.m. The Super Bowl party starts Saturday at noon and runs until 10 p.m. that evening.

Located at 2354 Central Avenue (building 2266), across from the Gold Rush Inn at Eielson AFB, the space is 4,426 square feet and includes a newly remodeled café, fresh paint and décor, pool tables, shuffleboard, foosball, a dedicated movie room and video gaming room with eight stations. The USO Alaska “Icebox” Center will open using much of the existing furniture, with new furniture still on the way from the lower 48. A redesigned floorplan allowed for a greater sense of community and the new café provides more seating and food service area to better support USO guests.

The USO also added additional TVs, upgraded Internet and cable TV access and installed four new computers and a printer for use by USO guests. The USO Alaska Icebox Center is open—free of charge— to active duty service members, members of the National Guard and Reserve and their families.

USO Alaska Icebox Center hours are Friday (4 p.m. – midnight), Saturday (noon – midnight) and Sunday (noon – 8 p.m.). Once more volunteers are on board, the USO will expand to daily hours (TBD). USO guests are welcome to enjoy the home-away-from home atmosphere, free snacks and non-alcoholic beverages as well as the latest video games, movies, books, magazines and classic board games. A similar, but larger USO Alaska Center is scheduled to open at Fort Wainwright in summer 2017.

In addition to the USO Centers, USO Alaska facilitates outreach services and programs throughout the state to all branches of the military, supporting homecomings and deployments, various wellness activities, family and military couples’ resiliency events, USO entertainment tours, and much more.

Volunteers are always needed. Anyone (military, civilian, retired, etc.) that would like to get involved may complete the volunteer interest form found at https://volunteers.uso.org. Simply follow the link and select your desired volunteer location, then complete the brief online form. A USO Center Operations Supervisor will contact you to schedule a New Volunteer Orientation training session. Volunteers can help at the USO Center, assist with events, provide administrative support, help to plan programs and much more. For more information about volunteering for the USO at Eielson AFB, contact Brittany West, USO Alaska Icebox Center Operations Supervisor, at bwest.uso.org.

As a 501©3 non-profit organization, USO Alaska relies on donations from individuals, corporate partners and grants. Donations may be made through the Combined Federal Campaign; CFC# 11381, online at http://alaska.uso.org, or by check/money order payable to “USO Alaska.” Mail to: USO Alaska Donation Processing Center, PO Box 96044, Washington DC 20077-7677. Corporate sponsorship opportunities are available; please contact Tara Mogan at tmogan@uso.org. Tax ID #13-1610451.