The Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit FIVE's (NEPMU-5) First Class Petty Officer Association organized a command-wide event at Father Joe's Village as part of the command's CPO365 program, Dec. 27.

NEPMU-5 Sailors helped to serve lunch at Father Joe's Village, the largest rehabilitation program for the homeless in San Diego, meeting the needs of 900 men, women and children who live at the Village. Each day, volunteers help to serve 3,000 meals.

The mission of Father Joe's Village is to provide hope for those who are hopeless and to show the way home to those who have none.

"Without dedicated volunteers, Father Joe's could not provide this program to assist our hungry neighbors," said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Steven Stroud, NEPMU-5, who organized the event and regularly volunteers at Father Joe's. "One amazing thing about Father Joe's is that they are helping homeless veterans, which really hits close to home."

"Community Relations projects are what we do to show our surrounding communities that we care about them, and our NEPMU-5 CPO365 Phase I group will lead the way to ensure we continue to foster good relations with the communities," said Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Leonardo Carbonel, senior enlisted leader, NEPMU-5. "We do these types of events because we enjoy giving back to the community and they bring camaraderie between the CPO and FCPO [messes]. It's win-win situation for all."

"It means a lot for me to be able to give back to the community that I grew up in," said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Derrick Bender, NEPMU-5. "I see these people every day, and being able to provide this simple act of kindness to those who may not have friends and family means a lot [to] me. I just hope that at the end of the day we help lighten their burden."

"One of our jobs as chiefs is to train our replacement by showing how leaders have the ability to impact people by doing what is right and providing help when needed," said Carbonel. "I can tell you that NEPMU-5 and its personnel is no stranger to community relations. We have been an active command in supporting and completing projects throughout the San Diego community. It's because we care, and that's who we are."

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

For more news from Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, visit http://www.navy.mil/.