Marine, zombies fight off hunger in Alabama

Photo By Master Sgt. Jon Holmes | Sgt. Greissy Sepulveda, a Marine with Recruiting Station Montgomery, Alabama, joined forces with hundreds of the undead to help fight hunger in Alabama, Sept. 26, 2014, during the Fourth Annual Zombie Walk and Prom. Together, zombies and volunteers helped gather more than 1,000 pounds of food for the Montgomery Area Food Bank, which will help feed the more than 900,000 people served by the organization.  

MONTGOMERY, AL, UNITED STATES

09.26.2014

Story by Sgt. Jon Holmes 

6th Marine Corps District

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A single Marine stood pressed against more than 400 zombies, ghouls and other creatures of darkness in a fight against one of humanity's oldest enemies - hunger.

Sgt. Greissy Sepulveda, a Marine with Marine Recruiting Station Montgomery, took a stand Friday Sept. 26, in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, to help gather food during the city’s Fourth Annual Zombie Walk and Prom.

“I'm here to help collect food and support the community,” she said. “It's all about helping. That’s why I’m here.”

The issue of hunger is no stranger in Alabama. According to the Alabama Food Bank, the organization that is responsible for the food drive during the event, almost 20 percent of Alabama’s population, some 920,000 people, is lacking reliable access to a sufficient source of nutritious food.

Sepulveda, from West Palm Beach, Florida, said she hopes her work, and the work of others, can help change that, and she isn't alone.

Teresa Vigneault-Millwood, the fun dand food drive and volunteer coordinator for the Montgomery Area Food Bank, said the issue of hunger and poverty is serious for Alabama.

“Poverty in the United States is at twelve percent,” she said. “But, in Alabama, it's seventeen percent.”

That directly relates to the ability for people to afford some of the most basic of necessities, the biggest of them being food, according to the organization’s web site.

However, Vigneault-Millwood is hopeful that events like this can help change that.

“We are able to put food on people’s tables so they can eat and spend time together,” she said. “But, we couldn’t do that without our volunteers.”

With the help of people like Sepulveda, they have gathered more than 1,000 pounds of food. Food that Vigneault-Millwood says will be able to help feed some of the 340,000 people served by the food bank.

“There are a lot of people that need help,” Sepulveda said as she accepted another donation of canned food. “It's important to help out and be a part of the community. That’s what Marines do.”

• Date Taken: 09.26.2014
• Date Posted: 09.27.2014 17:54
• Story ID: 143479
• Location: MONTGOMERY, AL, US
• Hometown: WEST PALM BEACH, FL, US