Editor’s note: The Air Force Assistance Fund campaign at Hill Air Force Base will begin March 2.

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas — The annual Air Force Assistance Fund campaign kicks off Feb. 2 at 78 Air Force and joint bases worldwide, Air Force Personnel Center officials announced on Jan 12.

The campaign, in its 42nd year, will be conducted for six-week periods through May 1, said Bill D’Avanzo, the Air Force voting action officer and fundraising chief. Most Air Force bases will begin and end their campaigns during one of three designated periods:

Feb. 2-March 13

March 2 -April 10

March 23-May 1

“For more than four decades, the Air Force Assistance Fund has been used to help Airmen, whether affected by natural disasters, experiencing personal hardship, recovering from injury or illness, or making difficult life choices due to age and other circumstances,” D’Avanzo said. “We are family, and the fund exists to help our family members get through difficult times.”

Contributions, which are tax-deductible, go to support four charities:

• The Air Force Aid Society: Provides Airmen and their families worldwide with emergency financial assistance, education assistance and various base-level community-enhancement programs.

• The Air Force Enlisted Village: Supports Teresa Village in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and Bob Hope Village in Shalimar, Florida, near Eglin Air Force Base. The fund provides homes and financial assistance to retired enlisted members’ widows and widowers who are 55 and older. It also supports Hawthorn House (in Shalimar), which provides assisted living for residents, including 24-hour nursing care.

• The Air Force Villages Charitable Foundation: Donations support independent and assisted-living needs for retired officers and their spouses, widows or widowers, and family members. Communities are located in San Antonio, Texas.

• The General and Mrs. Curtis E. LeMay Foundation: Provides rent and financial assistance to widows and widowers of officers and enlisted retirees in their homes and communities through financial grants of assistance.

For more information about the Air Force Assistance Fund affiliated charitable organizations visit www.afassistancefund.org.

For more information about other personnel issues go to myPers. Air Force retirees who do not have a myPers account can request one at www.retirees.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-120510-068.pdf.