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Sixty Marines and sailors spread the merriment of the holiday season to the residents of the Nagomi Nursing Home for Children as part of a community relations project here Nov. 25.
The volunteers, who are assigned to 3rd Supply Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, sang Christmas carols and shared lunch during the visit.
“The holiday season is all about the spirit of giving whether it’s giving our time or making a donation,” said Lt. Kyu Lee, the chaplain with 3rd Supply Battalion. “Another aspect of the holidays is the feeling of belonging to a family and while the residents don’t speak the same language as us, we still want to make that connection with them.”
A previous visit to the orphanage brought in 26 volunteers. Lee attributes the large turnout of participants in this event to the approaching Christmas holiday.
The volunteers engaged in board games and other forms of recreation such as soccer with the children.
“The children were shy at first, but once the Marines started interacting with them you could see how much fun they were having by their smiling faces,” said Ayumi Miyagi, a social worker with the home.
After the volunteers and children became acquainted, Marines and sailors sang Christmas carols like “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Here Comes Santa Clause” and “Silent Night.”
“Everyone seemed to enjoy the songs we sang,” said Lance Cpl. Parker A. Toliver, a supply clerk with the battalion. “Christmas caroling is one of the things people like to think about during the holidays.”
“We’ve never had a shortage of volunteers,” said Lt. Col. Robert T. Castro, the commanding officer of 3rd Supply Battalion. “We have an English-Japanese exchange program, and this is not our first time working with the orphanage. We have plenty of people looking for the opportunity to improve the local community, whether by working with the local Japanese or with children.”
At the end of the visit, the Marines and sailors waved goodbye and wished each other luck until next time.
“The best result to come from community relations projects like this is for the volunteers to build a bond with the children here and return during their free time and continue to build those connections,” said Lee.
| Date Taken: | 11.26.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.01.2011 06:32 |
| Story ID: | 80761 |
| Location: | AICHI, JP |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Volunteers share holiday cheer, festivities at local children’s home, by LCpl Kris Daberkoe, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
