Navy sailors throw lifeline to community
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — It was all hands on deck Thursday morning at Brighton Elementary School as sailors from the USS George H.W. Bush plotted a course to spread literacy for children in grades 3 through 6.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to share in our community,” said USS George H.W. Bush Commanding Officer Capt. David Pollard. “While our number one job is to forward deploy for our nation in service of liberty and freedom, while we are home we have a civic responsibility, [and that is] a responsibility for volunteerism to make a difference in our community. The community takes care of us and our families while we are away and now we are going to take care of our community.”
With the carrier in drydock in Portsmouth, the visits across the region come at an ideal time to spread Bush’s legacy. The carrier’s executive officer, Capt. Louis Catalina, was at the helm of the YMCA’s Camp Red Feather at Virginia Wesleyan University.
“So it’s an important part, [and] it gives us purpose,” Catalina said. “Right now, George H.W. Bush is in the shipyard, working on our survivability and livability to go out on deployment. So right now the sailors need something to find purpose in. What better to do than to give back to the community and look for our namesake.”
Sailors served the community alongside volunteers from The Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Hampton Roads.
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