Volunteers needed: Help the community, help thyself

Photo By Joseph P Cirone | Army and Air Force enlisted members from the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) serve food to youth at the DC Ward 8/Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Seventh District holiday party for underprivileged children. Each year, JBAB-based military members, civilian and contracted workers, their families and residents of JBAB volunteer to support the U.S. Marine Corps Foundation’s Toys for Tots program and MPD sponsored holiday parties for underprivileged and foster care children in D.C’s Wards 7 and 8 (Police Districts 6D and 7D), at which children receive gifts; coats; shoes; a hot meal and some of the children receive bicycles, donated as part of the Toys for Tots program. (U.S. Navy photo by Joseph P. Cirone/Released)  

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES

12.11.2014

Courtesy Story

Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling

By Andrew Damstedt
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Public Affairs

WASHINGTON - The Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) Community Service Program (CSP) is looking for new recruits to join its volunteer force to help needy people and perhaps reap some personal benefits as well.

The goal of the CSP is to provide military, civilian and contractor personnel and their families the opportunity to perform meaningful volunteer work in the neighboring community.

The program, open to all personnel at JBAB, including its mission partners (tenant commands), residents, retirees and members of the off-base community, is supported and coordinated by JBAB’s Public Affairs Office. CSP, a Navy-wide program, was adapted for use and incorporates all five armed services at JBAB.

Anyone living or working on, or with access to, the installation is more than welcome to participate in the program. The JBAB Home Educators’ students and teachers are among those participating, for example.

“The legitimate needs of the neighboring community are vast; we never have enough volunteers to cover all of the needs and requests we get,” said JBAB Public Affairs Officer Joseph P. Cirone. The volunteer opportunities all share the common focus of improving the quality of life for others in need.

“Our program has a focus to help people with education, health, environmental stewardship, food, clothing, and getting jobs,” Cirone said. “All of which are very much needed in our neighboring community.”

“JBAB, as a command, is responsible to provide common services, such as police, fire, EMS, public works and so on and to support all commands on base; the CSP is just another example of that support,” he said.

Cirone said the program belongs to each and every person and command at JBAB. “JBAB, as a base, is a collective - a grouping of different military commands, other entities, individuals and families, totaling thousands of people.”

The program offers an average of two volunteer opportunities per month, with some months, like November and December, offering more than the average and other months, such as during the middle of winter or summer, offering less than the average.

The program is comprised of five focus areas, known as flagships. They include Project Good Neighbor, Environmental Stewardship, Personal Excellence, Health, Safety and Fitness, and Drug Demand Reduction efforts.

“We keep our pulse on the needs of the nearby community, on the East side of the District of Columbia, which is broken down into two political subdivisions, known as Ward 7 and Ward 8. These Wards are among the neediest in the entire National Capital Region. Our volunteers have a great opportunity to help improve the lives of people who truly need the help and we can make a real positive impact,” Cirone stated.

While JBAB’s primary focus is on helping people in Wards 7 and 8, it also partners with Naval District Washington and their other military service branch counterparts to support Joint Services-sponsored community service opportunities in the Metropolitan Washington area.

“We are proud to support the Joint Services efforts, providing volunteers for Special Olympics’ Bowling Championships, their Track and Field games, the District’s Police Department Safe Summer program, the Wreaths across America project and other projects, for example. Still, our primary focus is on the area of greatest need and for which we never get enough volunteers – right here in Wards 7 and 8,” Cirone said.

In fact, JBAB often partners with the Metropolitan Police Department, many community organizations, other federal and military organizations, such as the National Park Service and the Department of Labor.

Another important part of the CSP is capturing the volunteer’s efforts and ensuring that they get reported to higher levels within the Department of Defense (DOD). The reports are available for mission partners’ use and for individuals’ use for annual performance appraisals, school or other organizationally-required community service hour obligations, promotion and award packages.

Volunteers qualify for a special incentive with as little as just four hours of volunteer time contributed to one of the CSP’s opportunities in a single month. They can qualify for awards with as little as 25 hours of service. JBAB’s CSP is an official certifying agency for the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for military and non-military personnel and assists military personnel in getting approval for the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

Leadership skill development opportunities abound; Personal rewards possible

JBAB’s CSP highly encourages personnel looking to develop or practice their leadership skills, to consider volunteering to lead a project or serve as the on-scene coordinator for volunteer opportunities that are offered.

Anyone who has a desire to create a community service opportunity is highly encouraged to pitch the idea or proposal to the CSP. “That includes our on-base youth groups, homeschoolers, service organizations, an ad-hoc group of people, pretty much anyone, looking to make a positive impact in the lives of someone in need,” explained Cirone.

Once a proposal is received, JBAB’s CSP ensures the idea meets the legal, ethical and strategic requirements, and then matches the opportunity with the needs and desires of the community and its leaders, Cirone said.

“Plus, we will promote the cause to attract additional volunteers, if needed; send a reporter to cover the effort, publish an article that goes worldwide; capture the volunteer service hours, report them up the chain of command and at an appropriate milestone, ensure the volunteers receive proper recognition or awards.”

As an example, in October and November, Air Force Staff Sgt. Lawrence Rajab, the supervisor of the Air Force Honor Guard pallbearer flight, led a group of 95 Airmen and Sailors from the Air Force Honor Guard and Navy Ceremonial Guard who wanted to conduct a food drive to help needy people.

The volunteers donated a total of 553 hours of their time and raised more than 1,200 pounds of food.

Two days before Thanksgiving, working with JBAB’s CSP, representatives from the two ceremonial units delivered some of the food to needy residents in Ward 7, including a 90 year-old woman, the survivor of elder abuse and a 9 year-old boy who was shot in the head by crossfire during a gang-related shooting incident.

“I was glad that we were able to have the volunteers present the result of their efforts directly into the hands of people in need,” Cirone reflected.

“Seeing the smiles on the faces of the recipients and the volunteers and hearing the verbal exchanges between them, really helped make my Thanksgiving. I thanked God for being in the right job at the right time and in the right place to help make that happen,” Cirone said.

“It is right in line with what I have dedicated the last four decades of life to – helping other people. It is also directly linked to the military core value of service to others and the country, before oneself,” he continued.

Additional food was delivered to a Boys and Girls Club location, where it became part of a larger effort to feed more than 3,700 families in Wards 7 and 8 and other parts of the District.

Rajab, like many volunteers understands the mutually beneficial aspects of helping others. Not only do volunteers get the opportunity to help, but they also enjoy the feeling of knowing they helped someone in need. Rajab has spent years volunteering to help others. “I have volunteered for more than five years, with food drives, mentoring school-aged children and more.”

Soon after Thanksgiving, Rajab received word that his hard work, professionalism, schooling and in part, his volunteer service, paid off. He was selected for the Air Force’s Officer Training School (OTS), a program that enables high performing enlisted members to become commissioned as officers.

Rajab said, “I included my volunteer work in my application package. I know it helped.” Upon completion of OTS, he will be commissioned as an Air Force second lieutenant.

Volunteer efforts outside of the program are not discouraged

Cirone said the CSP does not discourage a person or group of people from volunteering outside of the offerings provided or approved by JBAB’s program, or through it, by its higher level Joint Services partners.

However, he cautions that military and DOD civilian personnel acting as private citizens, are not covered to the same extent, legally, as they would be if they participated in a volunteer effort officially approved by the JBAB (or a similar) CSP. “That’s an important point that I cannot emphasize enough,” Cirone exclaimed.

“Volunteer efforts undertaken by military and DOD civilian personnel affiliated with JBAB should be command sponsored (approved), aligned with the joint base’s strategic goals and with the specifically expressed needs and desires of the community we serve,” Cirone said.
For more information, contact: [e-mail].

Joseph P. Cirone contributed to this story.

• Date Taken: 12.11.2014
• Date Posted: 12.11.2014 14:41
• Story ID: 150090
• Location: WASHINGTON, DC, US