By Toni Miles
They’re trained by the U.S. Navy to build, whether it’s constructing roads, bridges, bunkers and even airfields at sites both foreign and domestic; however, local Seabees stationed at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport recently dedicated an entire day putting their skills to use at a local food pantry.
Known as the “Fighting Seabees,” these American heroes stepped up in the fight against hunger in the local community by trading their hammers and nails for pressure washers and saws to help spruce up the Long Beach Community Food Pantry, located on Johnson Road in west Harrison County.
The Seabees, all members of the Gulfport-based NMCB 133 and headed up by BU1 Valerie Romero, the Lead Petty Officer for this effort, spent an entire day by organizing into groups of teams to perform assigned tasks that included power washing buildings on site, landscaping the grounds, tree removal and removal of cuttings - all just in time to better prepare the Long Beach site for the high winds and heavy rainfall spurned by Hurricane Francine, which made landfall just west in Louisiana on September 11.
The Seabees also took the time to rotate the food pantry’s dry goods for distribution.
It was all part of the local unit’s Community Service program. The results of NMCB 133's efforts impressed both the staff and recipients of the Long Beach food pantry.
The Seabees didn’t walk away empty-handed. NMCB 133 CMDMC Duane Jerry says this community project not only helped the food pantry and local residents it serves, but also equipped these young(er) Seabees with a better understanding of the importance of giving back to the community.
