NMCP Staff Member Spends Time Volunteering

Courtesy Photo | PORTSMOUTH, Virginia (Nov. 20, 2019) – Gunner’s Mate Second Class Cameron Rogers, an access control clerk for Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) Emergency Management Security Department, took some time to speak with young people about the joys of being a Navy veteran. Rogers, born at NMCP and raised in Moyock, North Carolina, volunteered to speak at a local middle school in Moyock for a Veterans Day event. “I agreed to speak at Moyock Middle School for a Veterans Day event that the school had,” Rogers said. “I got the chance to speak to four different block periods of two classes, which totaled 200 middle schoolers, and tell them about my experiences in the Navy as well as the positives of joining if they were to go in that direction. I did a lot of Q&A for the kids and was featured on their broadcasted news show.” (Photo courtesy of GM2 Cameron Rogers/Release)  

PORTSMOUTH, VA, UNITED STATES

11.20.2019

Story by Seaman Imani Daniels 

Naval Medical Center - Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, Virginia (Nov. 20, 2019) – Gunner’s Mate Second Class Cameron Rogers, an access control clerk for Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) Emergency Management Security Department, took some time to speak with young people about the joys of being a Navy veteran.

Rogers, born at NMCP and raised in Moyock, North Carolina, volunteered to speak at a local middle school in Moyock for a Veterans Day event.

“I agreed to speak at Moyock Middle School for a Veterans Day event that the school had,” Rogers said. “I got the chance to speak to four different block periods of two classes, which totaled 200 middle schoolers, and tell them about my experiences in the Navy as well as the positives of joining if they were to go in that direction. I did a lot of Q&A for the kids and was featured on their broadcasted news show.”

Rogers, who has a little brother currently attending Moyock Middle, grew up in Moyock, and attended the same middle school he got the opportunity to volunteer at.

“I’m from Moyock and I went to that middle school when I was a kid,” Rogers said. “The teacher I worked with during the event was actually my 7th grade social studies teacher. I decided to volunteer for the Veterans Day event because my brother is a student there now, and he asked me to come and speak.”

The Veterans Day event was a project for the students, as they were asked to invite family members, who are either active duty or retired to come talk with the students and/or bring in artifacts to share.

“My little brother and my love for giving back to communities was my motivation for volunteering,” Rogers said.

The Navy encourages and expands involvement of volunteers in the communities in which they live and work. The goal is to promote volunteerism and community service between Navy personnel and local communities. Rogers, who has been active duty for almost four years, has spent a lot of time serving his community and enjoys being able to give back.

“My favorite volunteer work I’ve done so far for the Navy was a community relations project (COMREL) that we did in the Bahamas,” Rogers said. “I went and worked with a school for disabled children. The experience was amazing and the children were really fun to be around. It opened my eyes to the situations that some of these other countries are experiencing and it makes me really appreciative.”

Rogers has recently reenlisted for six years and plans on continuing his Navy career as well as his efforts in volunteer work.

“What really drives me to volunteer for different organizations and opportunities is getting to see firsthand what other people, from different walks of life, go through and/or don’t have,” Rogers said. “We, as people, tend to take things for granted.”

As the U.S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating military hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally-acclaimed, state-of-the-art medical center, along with the area's 10 branch health and TRICARE Prime Clinics, provide care for the Hampton Roads area. The medical center also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for future roles in healing and wellness.

• Date Taken: 11.20.2019
• Date Posted: 11.22.2019 11:41
• Story ID: 353032
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VA, US