Going The Extra Mile to Give Back
You'd assume that those in the armed forces have given enough of their time to serve our country that "going the extra mile" in the community is put on a shelf for a later day.
Nope.
Earlier this week, roughly 60 sailors and Marines who shipped into Baltimore for Sailabration, the maritime festival marking the bicentennial of the War of 1812, combined their time off with community service. They spent Monday volunteering at the Baltimore Station, a transitional housing and counseling center for men, many of whom are veterans.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the sailors and Marines were among 4,000 military men and women who visited the city during Sailabration. They took in the sights, sampled the fare and, in many instances, donated their time and talent to local projects before their ships left Tuesday, the paper wrote.
While volunteering, the sailors and Marines planted community gardens, painted fences and packed Meals on Wheels. Additionally, they landscaped the grounds of a 19th-century home with a War of 1812 connection and unloaded trucks at a food bank and built an outdoor lab for young scientists.
"It is important to let the public know that we are not just a military machine," Mass Communications Specialist First Class Todd Stafford told the Sun. "We are also humanitarians trying to keep people safe. We are helping with these community projects."
On Monday, the volunteers arrived ready for work at the Baltimore Station in the Riverside neighborhood.
"We won't be asking you to rappel from the roof or tunnel under the building," Alaric I. Phillips, the program's outreach volunteer coordinator told the paper. "You don't have to get into full military mode. We just want you to set up for a volunteer luncheon, plant a container garden on our roof and make collages."
It's amazing that these men and women, who are taking time from the civilian lives to support our country, took their personal time to give back to the community. Talk about being role models.
How are you giving back to your community?
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