Photo By Chad Menegay | Fort Lee Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program leaders Sherman Cordle...... read more read more
FORT LEE, Va. — The U.S. Army Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program recently announced that Fort Lee won first place in the category of Best Community Service for a medium-sized installation in its FY25 BOSS Awards competition.
The Fort Lee BOSS program led a community support effort by dedicating thousands of volunteer hours to the "Feed the Hungry" initiative in support of the local Dinwiddie and Petersburg communities.
“It’s a submission of what we think is the best community service project in our BOSS program, the ‘Feed the Hungry’ program, which we are committed to every year,” said Sherman Cordle, a BOSS advisor and recreation specialist facility manager. “Every month we have food donated, and we have volunteers who go out to the Dinwiddie location, and they help pack the food that is donated.”
The BOSS program coordinates volunteers in conjunction with the Fort Lee Installation Food Pantry to stock and pack food that is delivered to the Southside High School Education Center in Dinwiddie.
The pantry in 2025 provided critical food assistance to 1,518 families – totaling more than 6,300 individuals – distributing over 40,000 pounds of food. The pantry offers a discreet and supportive environment, enhancing the well-being of our Soldiers and their families.
“We provide the support and bring one to two units in from Advanced Individual Training with [BOSS President Sgt. 1st Class Jamie] Ramsdell supervising, and they go pretty much every week to the pantry to help out, and then at the end of every month the actual ‘Feed the Hungry’ part of the program with handing out food and transporting food to those in need,” Cordle said.
The BOSS program also donated 12 shelving units, eight refrigerators and a couple scales in partnership with the Defense Commissary Agency, Cordle said.
“DeCA also assists in providing food that will be expiring soon,” Cordle said. “They’ll get it when it’s near the end of its lifespan, but still those families in need are happy to have those packages.”
Often, in a community like Dinwiddie, the beneficiaries of these programs are veterans, retirees and military families in the local area that are enduring hardships, Cordle said.
“So, it’s not only a way for us to give back to the local communities, but also to stand firm with the support of our own organizations and military service members,” he said.
Community service, quality of life, and recreation and leisure are the three core components of the BOSS program.
According to the Army BOSS webpage, BOSS makes a difference by volunteering in community projects and events. This is always voluntary in nature, and Soldiers find this to be personally rewarding.
Army BOSS awards recognize outstanding, volunteer-driven programs that enhance the quality of life for single/unaccompanied Soldiers.
“Whenever you have the means and ability to volunteer and make someone’s life a little bit better, it’s a no-brainer because it brings the community and everyone together positively,” Cordle said.
The award also carried with it a cash prize of $750 to Fort Lee BOSS, which will be put toward providing the volunteers with dinner and a night out to celebrate, Cordle said.
| Date Taken: | 02.27.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2026 14:36 |
| Story ID: | 559124 |
| Location: | FORT LEE, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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