Sailors aboard aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) hosted a joint community service outing to Chollas Lake Park and Balboa Park in San Diego, April 14.

More than 1,000 Sailors volunteered for the dual-site event.

Sailors painted the Cabrillo Bridge at Balboa Park and cleaned rubbish, conducted trail maintenance, brush removal, and erosion clean-up at Chollas Lake Park.

Lt. Jessie Pamaran, one of Theodore Roosevelt's assistant air operations officers, volunteered for the event.

"I think it's important that we're helping with the beautification of San Diego," said Pamaran. "It's a beautiful city to begin with. I know we have 500 people here at Balboa Park and 500 Sailors at Chollas Lake [Park]. We started early this morning and we'll round out to having about 7,000 man hours of total labor in the San Diego community when we finish up today. It's rewarding to know we're making that kind of impact."

Theodore Roosevelt's Command Religious Ministries Department facilitated the event. Chief Religious Programs Specialist Alan Brandt said CRMD was grateful to garner so much support.

"We serve every day but this service project provides another way to make an impact in a tangible way," said Brandt. "Every time our Sailors visit these parks, they'll know they contributed to making their communities great."

Personnel Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Martinez said he saw the event as the perfect opportunity to make a first impression on the San Diego community. Theodore Roosevelt recently homeport shifted from Norfolk to San Diego following an around-the-world deployment.

"We're new to San Diego," Martinez said. "I just think it's a good time to let the community know that we're here for them and that we're happy to be here. It goes beyond making an impact on the community. I come to Balboa all of the time and I look forward to coming again knowing that my shipmates and I painted this wall and helped maintain the grounds."

Pamaran was grateful to the facilitators and the command for encouraging so much involvement for what he said was a great cause.

"These are beautiful parks," said Pamaran. "We just wanted to give back. I think people should visit these parks as much as they can. They're just a couple of things that make San Diego such a beautiful place to live."

For more news from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), visit www.navy.mil/.