Sailors from guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57), Fleet Survey Team, and Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center participated in a community relations (COMREL) project at Feeding the Gulf Coast food bank, Feb. 27, as part of Mobile Navy Week.

After taking a tour of the facility, Sailors spent the afternoon inspecting, sorting, and boxing food items to be distributed throughout 24 counties in south Alabama, south Mississippi, and the panhandle of Florida.

"Today, our Sailors are seizing the opportunity to give back to the community," said Mitscher Command Master Chief Gerald H. Hagdorn. "Knowing those in the local community and throughout the Gulf Coast will be fed, and knowing children will be able to eat and not go hungry, means the world to me and the Sailors who volunteered today."

In 2016, Feeding the Gulf Coast distributed over 22 million pounds of food to more than 400 church pantries, soup kitchens, and nonprofit organizations, according to Tayler Morgan, the volunteer and food drive coordinator at Feeding the Gulf Coast. Morgan believes their accomplishments would be impossible without the help of volunteers.

"We could not do what we do without volunteers like the Sailors who came out to help today," said Morgan. "Before we disperse the food, we need volunteers to come in and inspect it. With just the 20 Sailors here today, we're going to make a good dent; but when we're getting tens of thousands of pounds of food, we can't do it with just the staff that's here."

Morgan added the food bank also works to educate the public regarding domestic hunger, proper nutrition, and other related issues.

During their tour of the facility, Sailors were given facts about hunger issues in America. For Aerographer's Mate 2nd Class Alecx Morgan, one fact hit close to home.

"I remember our tour guide saying one in four children in America is suffering from hunger insecurities," said Morgan. "In Baltimore, which is where I'm from, there were so many kids who were going hungry every day. I used to volunteer to help feed them. So, it's honestly really cool that the Navy has joined in to help such a worthy cause."

For more information on Feeding the Gulf Coast, visit http://www.feedingthegulfcoast.org.

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

For more news from Navy Office of Community Outreach (NAVCO), visit http://www.navy.mil/.