SAN DIEGO – Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) Chief Petty Officers’ Association (CPOA) members delivered Thanksgiving meals to Sailors and their families on Nov. 20.
“The effort of our CPOA to ensure our SWRMC Sailors and their families are taken care of during this Thanksgiving season exemplifies the values of the SWRMC Team,” said Capt. David Hart, SWRMC’s commanding officer. “It has been a tough year and it is more important than ever that we are taking care of each other.”
The idea for this program stemmed from the desire to provide assistance to Sailors who might need some extra help this season. It is the job of chiefs to ensure their junior Sailors are taken care of and, with the added stress of the holiday season during the current pandemic, the CPOA knew there was a need for help.
Partnering with a local grocery store, the CPOA, SWRMC’s officer wardroom, and chief petty officer selectees delivered Thanksgiving meal kits to 61 families the weekend before Thanksgiving ensuring those families had a holiday meal to enjoy together. Each holiday meal box includes a whole turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and vegetable sides to feed a family of 6 to 8 people.
“The meal kits were donated through our local Vons supermarket from donations made by shoppers at checkout,” said Senior Chief John Shubert. “For every dollar donated, the Food Bank provides traditional holiday meals to local military families and families facing hardships. The CPOA was also able to purchase additional meal kits to make sure every family was cared for this Thanksgiving.”
This is SWRMC’s first year participating in the fundraiser.
“It is important that as an organization we are not only supporting the Fleet, but we are also supporting each other,” added Hart.
SWRMC is meeting its mission to provide superior ship maintenance, modernization, technical support, and training for the Pacific Fleet.
For more information on SWRMC, please visit https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/RMC/SWRMC.