United States Air Force boys help out Katherine Town Council

Due to leave the country and return home, the American boys decided to roll up their sleeves and give back to the Top End community. Read what they enjoyed about Katherine.

Katherine Town Council were given a helping hand by United States Air Force (USAF) members who were due to post-out, with the American group rolling up their sleeves to touch up the local Visitor Information Centre. Picture: Supplied.

After calling the Top End home for several months, a group of United States Air Force members decided to drop into the Katherine Town Council office with a view to giving back to the community they have grown to love.

The aviators, posted to RAAF Base Tindal, were due to depart Australia when they geared up for one last mission and dialled the local council.

KTC chief executive Ingrid Stonhill said she and her team received the phone call “out of the blue”.

“We were really surprised - we got a call from one of the Americans who said ‘hey we’ve been based at RAAF Base Tindal for a few months, we’re about to get out and we really just wanted to say thank you and like to volunteer some time’,” she said.

“We were so grateful, it was absolutely fantastic.”

The USAF boys devoted their time and energy to refurbishing the Information Visitor Centre. Picture: Supplied.

A short time later, USAF members Kolton, Jamal, Tyler and Adam rolled up their sleeves to work on the garden and remove some graffiti around the Visitor Information Centre alongside the KTC depot team.

After transforming the area, Ms Stonhill said the newly-formed friendship was celebrated with lunch and a gift basket for the kind Americans.

“They were great sports, they said they really enjoyed the gorge, the hot springs and the caves,” she said.

“They said they had been looking for snakes and lizards too.”

The area patched up nicely thanks to the helping hand of the Americans. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Stonhill said the “fine, young men” had left a great impression.

“They were well mannered, good people and we were delighted to host them,” she said.

“We’ve got a pretty long history with young servicemen and women who have gone to Tindal and it makes us want to do better to provide better facilities and services in Katherine.”