Sailors Help Make School Ship Shape
Story by PA3 Gretchen Eddy, D7 Public Affairs
MIAMI -- The Coast Guard Cutter Resolute, a 270-foot patrol boat home-ported in St. Petersburg, Fla., deploys 185 days a year, with at least six patrols in Caribbean waters. Resolute's February patrol brought them to the Grand Bahamas with a port call in Freeport. While there, several crewmembers decided to give back to the local community in a different way.Twelve Resolute crewmembers spent about five hours of their own time in the hot sun making repairs to the Michael Eldon High School.
"It's a gesture of being good citizens, good neighbors and being good friends, and frankly, being good Coast Guardsmen," said Charles Michel, commanding officer of Resolute."The school looked old, had no air conditioning and needed renovation. The sidewalks were crumbling and falling apart along with the ramps, so that's what we worked on," said Lt.j.g. Kelly Cimber.
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| GRAND BAHAMAS - Crewmembers from the Coast Guard Cutter Resolute help repair cracked and broken pavement at Michael Eldon High School in Freeport, Bahamas. Photo by Lt.j.g. Kelly Cimber, CGC Resolute. |
"There was cement mix for us, but that was it. We had to mix it together with our hands on the ground, and then tried to move it and smooth it out with our hands too," explained Cimber.
"Every port we go to we try to set up some kind of community relations, like fixing a school," said Cimber.
The community was happy and thankful for the help; they even invited media to film the volunteers while they worked.
"We [take] pride in being a life-saving service, a humanitarian service and a service that helps people. We not only want to do our part out on the water when we rescue mariners; we want to come and try to live up to who we are onshore," said Michel.
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