Photo By Ryan Carter | NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (July 15, 2016) --Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Ashleigh Reiter,...... read more read more
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This is the second consecutive year that Ford has received awards in these categories.
“These awards mean that we are outwardly focused,” said Lt. Jamal Scarlett, command religious ministries department divisional officer and command COMREL coordinator. “We have a lot of Sailors that are willing to contribute, willing to give back and put a lot of their time and effort into great opportunities to serve our community.”
Throughout FY17, Ford had more than 1,600 volunteers put in more than 6,100 hours into serving the Hampton Roads communities.
For the category of Health, Safety, and Fitness, Ford helped raise health and fitness awareness by participating in the delivery of healthy, nutritional food supplies to those in need through the ‘Meals on Wheels’ program and by volunteering in various community athletic events, such as the ‘March of Dimes 5k’.
Through the Personal Excellence Partnership Flagship Sea Command Large category, Ford Sailors demonstrated their involvement with the local youth by participating in the annual ‘Christopher Newport University and Newport News Public School STEM Day’ which enables kids to engage outside of their classroom in science, technology, engineering, and math projects.
After moving from Newport News Shipbuilding to Naval Station Norfolk Religious Program Specialist 2nd Class Melissa Derr said Ford still maintained a significant presence in the local community.
“Moving from the Newport News area to being stationed in Norfolk we had to find a some new volunteer options for Sailors,” said Derr. “Our COMREL team and our Sailors pulled through by finding opportunities in the Norfolk area and made for a truly outstanding year.”
Through receiving these awards in back-to-back years, Scarlett said that Ford Sailors should ultimately feel responsible for these awards and should take ownership of them.
“We have some stellar Sailors at our command,” said Scarlett. “It speaks to the pride of the work that we’re doing and using the influence of our position as a platform to go out to the communities and really affect change in a substantial way.”
Many of Ford’s Sailors followed the guidance of their shipmates such as Personnel Specialist 1st Class Ariella Feracho, who led programs such as the ‘Commonwealth Challenge Youth Academy’ and the ‘Virginia Peninsula Foodbank’.
Feracho said even though it’s great to see the command be recognized, Sailors shouldn’t forget what COMRELs are really about.
“You should take pride in the awards, but COMRELS are about doing something that you enjoy for the betterment of the community,” said Feracho.
In addition to the hard work Ford Sailors put in their day-to-day responsibilities, Scarlett said it is the outward, forward-thinking Ford Sailors that continue to represent the command and Navy in positive ways.
“It speaks volumes of our leadership and our command in their willingness of allowing our Sailors to do that,” said Scarlett. “Every Sailor that has put forth the effort has done so with a lot of love and responsibility for their communities.”
| Date Taken: | 10.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2017 10:30 |
| Story ID: | 255068 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, FORD Receives COMREL Awards, by PO3 Connor Loessin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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