Staff members from Expeditionary Strike Group 3 volunteered at Jacob & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, Feb. 23.

The food bank provides nutritious food to people in need, advocates for the hungry, and educates the public about hunger-related issues.

Volunteers inspect, sort, and package food donated from community food drives, food suppliers, and local supermarkets.

"We couldn't do this without our volunteers," said Liz Sheahan, vice president of development for the food bank. "Our motto for our volunteers is 'We will waste no one's time;' our volunteers make the difference. Because of them, we have been able to save $1.5 million in labor costs, which translates to 7.5 million meals we were able to provide those in need."

Last year, the food bank distributed 22 million pounds of food which is equivalent to 18.3 million meals. One-third of that food was fresh produce.

Of the food distributed, more than 700,000 pounds of food was dispersed to veterans, active-duty service members, and their dependents. The food bank distributed this food directly to military personnel through direct food distributions and in partnership with seven hunger-relief charities which serve low-income military personnel and their dependents -- including the Navy Wives Food Locker, USO, Armed Services YMCA, Military Outreach Ministries, and Veterans Village of San Diego.

"Getting out in the community is a nice reminder of why we joined the military in the first place," said Personnel Specialist 1st Class Daniel Mullen, ESG-3 volunteer. "We joined to serve those in need."

ESG-3 service members helped sort and bag more than 5,500 pounds of oranges.

"By bagging the oranges we were able to help the food bank prepare for distribution, providing to families in need," said Yeoman 2nd Class K'Loni Luttrell, ESG-3 volunteer coordinator. "Volunteering is important because you are able to make an impact in the community just by doing small acts of kindness. It also provides you with new experiences and a heart full of humility. It's always a rewarding thing to do."

ESG-3 comprises three amphibious squadrons, eight naval support elements, and 13 amphibious warships comprised of more than 13,500 active-duty and Reserve Sailors and Marines. The mission of ESG-3 is to serve as the command element for Marine expeditionary brigade-level expeditionary operations as commander of an amphibious task force.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Expeditionary Strike Group 3, visit http://www.navy.mil/.