The Old Trooper Regiment in Junction City hosted an event on Friday for the participants in the Home Away from Home adopt a Soldier program for new soldiers that have arrived at Fort Riley.

The coordinator of the program, Phyllis Fitzgerald, was in attendance. She said host families engage with the new Soldiers. “They’re their mentor, they’re their friend, they get them outside the gates and engage them in our communities, introduce them to the events and things we have going on in our community, show them our community so that way they know where things are at. ”

Fitzgerald said a host family makes a commitment to that Soldier during the duration of the time they are at Fort Riley, and it can become a lifetime friendship.

Soldiers interested in participating in the program fill out a questionnaire during their in-processing, host families will fill out a questionnaire, and Fitzgerald will then start looking at common interests in making a match.

One Soldier, Tremond Burts, originally from Birmingham, Alabama, explained his interest in the program. “Just doing new things. When I got here to Kansas a whole bunch of my friends were doing it so I had to do it to.” Burt called the program a good idea.