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Serving up a delicious dish and a great time:
Story by PA2 Matthew Schofield
ERIE, Pa., November 20, 2008, eight Coast Guard Station Erie personnel volunteered their time on a day off to serve food to Erie community's senior citizens.
The St. James Lutheran Church and the eight Coast Guardsmen cooked and served a lunch of Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, jell-o, dessert, punch and coffee to 120 senior citizens at West Erie Senior Center.
"It was a pretty rewarding experience to be able to serve them, and it was a way we can give back," said BM3 William Campbell, who headed up the Coast Guard detail to assist the elderly.
"The station personnel further astonished me and the other volunteers once lunch and dessert was served by instructing the volunteers to ‘sit down and relax.' The majority of the crew began to clean the tables, take out the trash, wash dishes and package leftovers," said Cathy Bednar, president of the St. James Women of the ELCA.
The Coast Guardsmen had some empty hands after helping to serve the food and had little free time. As songs reminiscent of holiday's past played in the background, the empty-handed Coasties were gathered up by willing dance partners.
"The moment that had me overwhelmed, fighting back tears, was when one of the women that worked at the senior center grabbed Petty Officer Campbell and Seamen Ryan Quaintance and began to dance merrily with the men. Campbell, in good humor, told six lucky women to stand up and grab themselves a Coastie and dance!" said Bednar.
The Coast Guard members in Erie are no different than the rest in the service, where they willingly donate their time to help others as part of the community relations mission.
Just by the very nature of the Coast Guard and what we do, the community and the service need each other. The local community is the place where we grab a bite of lunch, talk to prospective recruits, watch the Independence Day parade and send our children to school - the place where we live and work.
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