Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer Molly Burgess | Chief Master-at-Arms Rusty Crain, from Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, checks the...... read more read more
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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Almost a dozen Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic (CNRMA) sailors volunteered their time to help give back to the community during a community relations (COMREL) project at the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore Aug. 8.
The COMREL was part of the command's monthly volunteer service they participate in within the Hampton Roads to give back to the community by volunteering their time through different services.
“For us, volunteering is very important, because it shows commitment to the community,” said Chief Master-at-Arms Rusty Crain, the command's volunteer coordinator.
With as many as 200 volunteers a week who give their time to assist with services, preparation and programs, according to Julie Braley, marketing and business relations director for the Food Bank, a large portion of those volunteers are military service members.
“Volunteers are essential to us. Last year we had more than 6,200 volunteers and over 41 thousand hours in volunteer time. The number of full-time employees we would have to have to make up the difference for all the work our amazing volunteers do for us is just unbelievable,” said Braley. “They do everything from sorting food, packing corn and repacking food for distribution as well as administrative volunteering. Their time is invaluable to us.”
According to Braley, the food bank distributed more than 14.2 million meals and almost 17.1 million pounds of food their last fiscal year which ranges from July to June, and one in seven families in the Hampton Roads area are food insecure based on poverty statistics.
“The food bank is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief domestic charity and as a part of that network, the Food Banks combine to help distribute meals and food to people in the country who are food insecure, which means they’re not sure where their next meal might be coming from,” said Braley. “With about 400 agency partners and programs, our service area is close to 5,000 square miles.”
The need for volunteers become essential because of the 100 different active programs the Food Bank has throughout the year and the amount of distribution locations and personnel who rely on the services.
“What we have often found out is that people that end up receiving food from us, end up being some of our best and most long-term volunteers because they want to pay-it-forward to some of the other people as well,” said Braley.
And paying-it-forward is what Religious Programs Spc. 1st Class Darrell Howell has been doing since his initial introduction to the Food Bank.
“I have been volunteering at this Food Bank for five years now,” said Howell. “It’s a just one way for me to give back to the community and those less fortunate than me.”
Howell was introduced to the Food Bank when he came to the location to help his neighbor who was in need of assistance, and donating his time at the Food Bank has become a weekend service of volunteerism ever since.
“I try to come every Saturday to help out with what I can; it has become sort of a lifestyle for me. I also help with the programs such as Backpack, which takes place during the school year,” said Howell. “Doing this is such a rewarding experience and is a way to give back because no person should go hungry.”
During their time at the food bank, CNRMA sailors helped with sorting countless pounds of dry and canned foods and sorted ears of corn into small bags for distribution.
“This is my second time volunteering at this Food Bank, and I come back because it’s just a great cause for an organization whose main purpose is to help those less fortunate,” said Quartermaster 2nd Class Rafael Acosta. “Our time here today is more than just a day of volunteering at the Food Bank, it extends out into the community to help feed someone who desperately needs it.”
Aside from volunteering at the Food Bank, Acosta volunteers around Hampton Roads in several other services to help give back to the community.
“Although this is only my second time here at the Food Bank, I also coach a children’s T-ball team, I volunteer at a church downtown, I am an active plasma donor and I used to volunteer at a Masonic lodge,” said Acosta.
According to Braley, it is more than just poverty stricken personnel who are in need of food assistance.
“I think there is a misconception often about who is in need of this food, and it’s everyone. Even the wealthiest county has people who are food insecure and you may not even know by looking at them, but they could be facing some sort of financial crises in their household,” Braley said. “Some have lost a job, car repair that wasn’t anticipated or a medical crisis. We hear that a lot. Or somebody is unable to work because they are ill or injured, or the bread winner in their family has become ill and they don’t have the resources that they did. These are the things that happen in life, so it could be anyone at any time.”
Volunteers such as CNRMA sailors are vital to the Food Bank’s distribution efforts to the community because according to Stephanie Gordon, the facility’s volunteer coordinator, “those that are struggling with hunger, struggle yearlong because it’s an everyday problem.”
“Thirty-two percent of those we serve are children. Our seniors are living on fixed income and as prices increase, their income does not, and they are often making choices between medicine and things like that, and food,” Braley said. “No one is immune to the issue of hunger. It is a community-wide problem and it could be anyone, so we’re happy to be here.”
| Date Taken: | 08.08.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.13.2013 11:08 |
| Story ID: | 111883 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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