Photo By Declan Barnes | Yeoman 1st Class Joseph Kunkel, assigned to Ship Repair Facility Yokosuka,...... read more read more
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YOKOSUKA, Japan - Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions is a Navy-wide peer mentoring program that promotes healthy life choices. Most commands have their own local chapter that runs the program for their area. CSADD Fleet Activities, Yokosuka is extremely active in its community with about one event every week with some weeks seeing two or three events coordinated by the group.
“The Yokosuka chapter was stood up in 2010 shortly after the Navy started the program,” said Ship’s Serviceman 2nd Class Christy Naranjo, CSADD Yokosuka president. “Since then we have been building and increasing our community involvement. Especially over the last year.”
Originally seen as a way to reduce alcohol-related incidents and help sailors make better decisions, the group has grown to do volunteering and other events to help make the local community a better place. Between the fun and the volunteering the group has coordinated almost 50 events already this year.
“We feed the homeless. We have a guy that has a soup truck and we hand out sandwiches. We hand out water. We clean up around base and on the streets the run by the base. We try to do the most we can possibly get done,” said Naranjo. “We also try to help sailors get what they need. We have a lot of different people that have been there and done that and know how to help. Some people just want to volunteer, others want to learn how to get their degree. We try to find ways to help everybody.”
CSADD Yokosuka also schedules trips or outings to places where sailors can have a good time or learn about the culture of the host country of Japan. The group took sailors to the Tokyo Auto Salon, a Ramen museum where sailors got to make their own ramen noodles, ice skating in Yokohama, and they sponsor the popular open mic event “Speak Your Mind.”
“I think that’s the biggest misconception about the program, people hear that name, Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions, and get scared away, but it really is a great program to be part of,” said Religious Programs Specialist Seaman Apprentice Parker Kalasek, a volunteer for CSADD Yokosuka. “We’re not out there yelling at people to stop having fun. Like when we hand out water in the Honch, we just ask them to make good decisions while they are out there.”
Naranjo explained that through the different events and volunteering, CSADD Yokosuka has become more than a group of peers supporting the local community, it’s become more like family.
“We work together and we have fun together, so I say when you’re here you’re making friends for life,” said Naranjo.
To find out more information on CSADD Yokosuka visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/cfaycsadd.
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 09.25.2013 03:11 |
| Story ID: | 114220 |
| Location: | YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 139 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Yokosuka chapter of CSADD, serving sailors, community, by Joseph Schmitt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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