JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C –
Airmen and civilians from the 1st Combat Camera Squadron at Joint Base Charleston - Air Base, volunteered to cook breakfast at a local shelter in downtown Charleston April 5.
The shelter is managed by Crisis Ministries, a local non-profit organization that serves almost 200,000 meals each year to homeless shelter residents and veterans.
1st Lt. Melissa Allan, 1st CTCS Individual Mobility Augmentee to the Combat Photography Flight Commander said, "Last year, the day after Christmas, I volunteered serving breakfast at the shelter and that's when I learned a group of people could sponsor an entire meal ... so I thought it would be a great idea for our unit to take this on."
The day of the breakfast, 14 volunteers arrived at 5 a.m. and prepped, cooked and served breakfast to more than 120 local residents, including 40 veterans. The team cooked nearly 300 eggs, 300 pancakes and 14 pounds of bacon, poured nine gallons of orange juice and six gallons of milk.
Allan said, "This is a way that we can not only give back to our own community, but also show veterans, by wearing our uniforms, that we haven't forgotten about them and that we appreciate the sacrifices that they made."
"Volunteers are vital to Crisis Ministries' mission of ending homelessness and hunger one person at a time, one family at a time" said Steffanie Dohn, Crisis Ministries director of development.
Crisis Ministries also provides 1,700 health appointments a year in addition to education counseling and job-training programs that help more than 70 people a year earn a General Education Diploma or find employment.
If you or your organization is interested in helping Crisis Minstries, go to
http://www.crisisministries.org and click on the volunteer tab.