Workers at the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy are accustomed to working with volunteers, but on Oct. 8, they got help from over 60 heavy lifting Sailors, Marines and Veterans who volunteered to cleanup Baker Beach.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG 106) provided Navy Volunteers and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade provided Marines, from Camp Pendleton, California.

Throughout the cleanup, part of a series of community relations events for the San Francisco Fleet Week, the group helped out in four different areas and did everything from beach cleanup to inverting soil, relocating soil and the replacement of 22 rotted cliff posts.

"We have lots of volunteers that do support our parks," Maria Durana, Program Manager for Volunteer Resources and Events with the Conservancy said. "They are not all as strong as today's group, so definitely having the Marines, the Navy and the Veterans out today really contributed a lot of force, a lot of muscle, and a lot of care to our parks."

Information Systems Technician 1st Class William Castleman, a native of Carson City, Nevada, and stationed aboard Stockdale, is no stranger to volunteer projects having volunteered for other community service events in the past.

"It helps out a community when you visit and give back. It shows that you appreciate being there just as much as they appreciate you being there," he said. "You get to meet people, meet some locals too. You get to see things you don't normally see when you just get off a ship and just walk downtown. It kind-of takes you away."

Intelligence Specialist 1st Class Colton Moser, a native of Easton, Pennsylvania enjoyed the opportunity to contribute.
"I like getting outside, seeing the sun, stuff like that," he said. "This is good, it has a purpose. Whether it might seem small, it has a purpose."

Durana probably would not agree that the effort could be seen as small.

"We did about one and a half month's worth of work for one employee," she said. "In three hours today."

For more news about San Francisco Fleet week, visit www.fleetweeksf.org.

For more news from Navy Public Affairs Support Element, visit www.navy.mil/.