The Faces Behind The Forces: Patricia Powers

The kind, friendly face that you may see every Thursday at USO Andersen is USO Guam’s Volunteer, Mrs. Patricia Powers, also known as “Ms. Patti.” She’s the lady that will go above and beyond to make you feel like you are truly special. She began volunteering with the USO along with her son, Jonathan, and daughter, Nicole, around 6 years ago at our USO Tumon Bay location. Her children both earned about 750 service hours during their time with the USO but have since left the island to attend college on the U.S. mainland.

Guam is home to the Powers family, where Patti and her husband, Brook, have lived for 27 years and raised their beautiful children. Patti was introduced to the USO by a friend and former volunteer. This volunteer had helped out at a Thanksgiving feast one year and could not stop talking about how wonderful the team was and how great it felt to support our military.

Ms. Patti had never been to a USO and thought that the USO only provided entertainment for the military. It wasn’t until she was welcomed into the community of the military, that she really understood the USO’s real mission and purpose. Connecting service members to family, home and country soon became Patti’s personal mission as well, and she carries it out with motherly love by welcoming every guest with one the brightest smiles you’ll ever see and making the USO center feel somewhere that every single military service and family member could feel special and at home.

When USO Andersen opened at Andersen Air Force Base, Ms. Patti and Nicole were invited to join the team in serving hundreds of burgers and hot dogs on the flight line to military service members from Japan, Australia and of course, our U.S. troops during the annual Cope North exercise on Guam. This program was Patti’s most memorable experience as she fondly recalls, “We went plane, to plane, to plane, to deliver food to them. They were shocked that we would come out and do that.” Her involvement with her first flight line BBQ allowed her to make new friends and even encouraged one of the military chaplains to volunteer by demonstrating how wonderful the USO was! Her infectious happiness flows out to all of our guests and no matter where she is, she spreads warmth to everyone she meets.

Volunteering with the USO has given Patti and her family the opportunity to connect with the military community they appreciate so much. Although she has always been at the heart of each center and enjoys serving our guests one-on-one, she also relishes in each opportunity to bring USO goodness outside of the center. Aside from the flight line BBQ, one of Patti’s favorite outreach programs is Operation Birthday Cake because she believes it’s an opportunity for loved ones to make their service members feel unique and loved wherever they are in the world. “Operation Birthday cake is fun, the flight line BBQ was spectacular, but [giving back in the center is my time] to make every individual feel special, no matter the occasion.”
“I have never volunteered anywhere else, but I cannot imagine any other organization making their volunteers feel so valued, special and so much apart of a team. I’m only here for 4 hours yet I have made deep amazing friendships with volunteers and staff.”

When Patti isn’t volunteering, she is immersed with her church and will assist wherever and whenever she can to help her local community and friends. Her immense kindness is shown every day of her life and we are honored and thankful to have a volunteer who is dedicated to making our service members smile.