24th MEU helps repaint Harlem community center

MANHATTAN , NY, UNITED STATES

05.27.2016

Story by Lance Cpl. Sean Berry 

Marine Corps Installations East       

Service members with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit prove that giving back to the New York community is one of the biggest parts of Fleet Week.
Marines, coast guardsmen and sailors helped repaint the Graham Windham’s Manhattanville Cornerstone Community Center in Manhattan, New York, May 27.
“We are redoing the gymnasium for the [kids in the community],” said Cpl. Rachel Warford, ground radio repairman with the 24th MEU. “Today was to get out and show the world who we are and what we do.”
“We are doing our brush with kindness program, which is a community revitalization program,” said Katie Van Bramer, an employee with Habitat for Humanity. “We go into community spaces, some senior centers and today we’re at a youth center, and we paint and try to liven up the place.”
More than 20 service members partnered with Habitat for Humanity and repainted the gym in one day.
“This is a really high traffic community center and it’s used by a lot of members of the community,” said Van Bramer. “We are really looking to do a nice job for them and make it a bright inviting space for the children where they want to come and play and learn.”
Service members also helped rebuild houses in Brooklyn, New York for homes that were critically damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“We’re people like everybody else,” said Warford. “[We’d do] anything to give back to the community.”
This is just one of the many community related events Marines, sailors and coast guardsmen will be participating in during the course of Fleet Week New York.
“I want to thank the Marines, Navy and Coast Guard for coming out,” said Van Bramer. “They do this every year to build and revitalize and really build our program.”

• Date Taken: 05.27.2016
• Date Posted: 05.27.2016 17:08
• Story ID: 199344
• Location: MANHATTAN , NY, US