MWR - 2020 Year in Review

MORALE, WELFARE, AND RECREATION

For decades, Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Sigonella has focused on providing quality of life programs to military members and their families. We are constantly motivated to offer exceptional service within our facilities, and we pride ourselves on providing unique programs to our service members and their families.

This year has been a wild ride for our MWR Sigonella recreation professionals as we developed creative new programming to offer a sense of normalcy to our community. Fortunately, we were able to offer a range of in-person programs to children and adults alike with COVID mitigation measures in place. Some of these programs included the fitness department’s Strongman Competition, which was modified and offered by appointment only to allow competitors to compete individually rather than as a group. Our Child and Youth Programs (CYP) implemented a new “Grab and Go” program that allowed youth to pick up sweet treats and other snacks, and links and virtual programming to help keep them entertained throughout the spring lockdown.

Although the COVID-19 restrictions impacted our major holiday festivals, we found innovative ways to celebrate. For example, we modified our annual “Red White and Boom” event so that our community could celebrate the 4th of July. The event was moved to Marinai Family housing, and patrons celebrated Independence Day with a socially distanced fun run, a variety of heavily sanitized games and activities, and a fireworks display visible from the comfort of their own yards. When traditional trick or treating was canceled, MWR introduced a reverse Candy Parade where MWR employees and command leadership dressed up in costumes to toss Halloween candy to children the streets of Marinai.

In addition to modified in-person programs, we were excited to roll out new virtual events this year, including e-sports gaming tournaments, youth sports drills, pet photo contests, sidewalk chalk contests, scavenger hunts, a Halloween costume contest, and custom in-home workouts that could be done from your living room or barracks room. We even launched our first ever virtual Sig’s the Season program, which included a virtual Christmas Tree Lighting, a threepart virtual Story Time with Mrs. Claus, and a virtual Jingle Bell Jog. All of these virtual events were offered through our social media channels to help keep our community engaged, even when our facilities were closed.

An essential priority for our MWR Sigonella team this year was to provide new and improved activities for our single service members and unaccompanied Sailors. During the holiday season, the Liberty Center pulled out all the stops to offer Taste of Home Thanksgiving meals, a 12 Working Days of Christmas scavenger hunt tailored to Liberty eligible patrons, and Operation Santa Claus, which will provide over 450 goodie bag deliveries throughout the barracks on Christmas Eve.

In addition to all of these programs, our CYP staff were busy ensuring that the School Age Care program earned a four-year accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA). COA is a rigorous and lengthy inspection process in which an external team reviews all internal processes to ensure high standards of stellar child-care are being maintained. CYP not only earned their accreditation, but did so with flying colors.

All of our MWR and CYP staff members came to work every day this year unsure of what the ever-changing national decrees would demand of us and continually adapted our facilities to accommodate the decrees. Our new normal became flexibility and resiliency, and our mission was to tread gently between the lines of offering the most we could while still following host nation decrees. This year proved that MWR is nothing if not responsive, adaptable and determined to provide excellent quality of life programs no matter the challenges.

We are excited to continue to bring new and creative programming for our Sigonella community in 2021! Please keep an eye out on our MWR Sigonella Facebook page, pick up a Preview at any of our MWR facilities, or visit www.navymwrsigonella.com for our upcoming events and virtual programs.