Sailors from USS Bulkeley Participate in COMREL

Sailors assigned to guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley (DDG 84) participated in community-relations (COMREL) events at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and the county Boys Club and Girls Club during a port visit at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Newport, Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.

A team of 13 crew members donated 53 man-hours sorting boxes of donated groceries and assembled 140 Thanksgiving food baskets that will be distributed to local families in need. Approximately 800 families are registered with the emergency food service program. Bulkeley volunteers also painted the center’s computer room that serves 65 elementary school students during an after school program.

“I like being able to help out an organization like this one that does a lot of good for a lot of people,” said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Spencer Forward of Cerritos, Calif.

“These gentlemen were such a help to us,” said Marilyn Warren, executive director. It normally takes us about four days to accomplish what they were able to do in four hours, she said.

Incorporated in 1922 as the Newport Community Center and renamed in 1968 in honor of King, the center provides before and after school programs for elementary school students and offers an emergency food services program.

“This a great sense of giving back and to help people who are less fortunate,” said Personnel Specialist 1st Class Muhammad Davis of Philadelphia, Penn.

“I’m fortunate to do what I do in the Navy, but giving back to the community is an opportunity to change someone’s life,” said Quartermaster 3rd Class Derrell Gilbert of Cuthbert, Ga.

Another team of 13 crew members donated 39 man hours painting a Boys Club and Girls Club annex clubhouse room in Middletown, R.I. The club house, located in a low-moderate income housing area, serves 40 children on a daily basis.

“Fixing up a place like this is worth the time and effort,” said Damage Control Fireman Recruit Melissa Bethel of New Philadelphia, Ohio.

“I’m glad to be able to help and give back to an organization in my hometown,” said Ensign Cessarina Heg of Newport, R.I. Heg, a 2008 USNA graduate, is the Bulkeley’s administrative officer.

Bulkeley, homeported in Norfolk, Va., served as a school ship for the Surface Warfare Officers School.

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Source: navy, November 06, 2011