CNRMA Sailors volunteer with Keep Norfolk Beautiful

ByMC1MaddelinHamm

CNRMA Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va Sailors, assigned to Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic (CNRMA),volunteeredwithKeepNorfolk Beautiful, March 24, to kick off the Great American Cleanup at Lafayette Park in Norfolk.

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NorfolkSailorsvolunteeredalongsideSailors from various other Navy commands Volunteers removed bamboo, raked leaves andbaggedtrashtorefreshoneofNorfolk’s largest parks

Religious Program Specialist 1st Class Matthew Malloy, a member of CNRMA’s First Class Petty Officer Association, coor- dinatedthevolunteereffortsbypartnering with Keep Norfolk Beautiful

“It’s a big team effort, and this gives us a chance to come out and show the neighborhood what the Navy is about; and it’s, youknow,notjustdrivingshipsandgetting underway,” said Malloy

Keep Norfolk Beautiful, which has been in operation since the early 1980s organizes and leads volunteers throughout the community to beautify, pick up litter and promoterecycle-rightpractices Theorganization also does outreach and education withpublicpartnerstoincreaseawareness of their impact on the environment

“The Navy specifically is sort of the backbone of our volunteer corps along with The Divine Nine honestly those two groupsspecifically allthewaythroughthe pandemic, they never stopped helping us,” saidSarahSterzing,programdirectorKeep NorfolkBeautiful.“They’reveryimportant. We depend on them greatly.”

Malloy said he started working with Keep Norfolk Beautiful in 2020, before he was assigned to CNRMA, but when he checked into CNRMA, he wanted to keep that relationship going; so he offered volunteer opportunities to Sailors at the command.

ThevolunteereffortwaspartoftheGreat American Cleanup, a nationwide effort to beautiful cities across the United States

“Anything we can do to get people out and give back to our neighborhood,” said Malloy.“Consistencyiskey-ifyou’regoing to give. It becomespart of who you are and your personal values.”

For other commands or Sailors looking to get involved with Norfolk community volunteering Malloy offered his insight.

“You get an opportunity to work with people you wouldn’t see on a normal basis, and it gets you out of your comfort zone, exposes you to other parts of the community; and I think it helps round people out but it also grounds you back to a placewhere we call home being stationed here in Norfolk.”

For more information about Keep Norfolk Beautiful and volunteer opportunitiesvisit https://www.norfolk.gov/4190/ Get-Involved.