NORFOLK, Va. – The Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia received a helping hand, Sept. 29, from 15 USS Wasp sailors from the ship’s First Class Petty Officer Association.
“There is always a need to give back to the community,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Ian Daley. “Doing these community relations projects as a group is also a great way to build camaraderie amongst all the first class petty officers onboard.”
Located in Norfolk, the food bank survives on donations from the local community, small businesses, and large companies such as the Cheesecake Factory.
During their visit, the sailors helped with bagging bulk pasta into smaller sized portions, sorting out different food donations and stocking food on the shelves. Members of Wasp’s crew had previously volunteered at the food bank, Sept. 1, as part of the ship’s Volunteer Service Program, sorting boxes of food to be distributed to Norfolk area churches and shelters.
“It’s wonderful to have service members take time out of their schedules to come and volunteer to help us with all the work we do to feed the less fortunate people of Virginia,” said Angel Caraballo, the food bank’s sorting room supervisor. “We couldn’t do it without all the volunteers who come here, and Wasp’s sailors really helped reduce the amount of work we had to get done this day.”
For the latest group of Wasp volunteers, projects such as this are something they wish to continue to help them grow closer and be more effective as a first class mess.
“I wanted to get this started for the association so that hopefully we can be more active in the community as a whole,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Cooper.
The next community service project involving Wasp sailors is scheduled for mid October, when VSP will assist the Susan G. Komen Foundation in preparing for the “Race for the Cure” in Virginia Beach to increase cancer awareness.