Abraham Lincoln Sailors Make a Difference for Malaysian Children's Home

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Stephen D. Doyle II, USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (NNS) -- USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Sailors volunteered to help a local children's home during a port visit in Malaysia Oct. 9.

More than 30 Sailors spent time off the ship to work at the Praise Emmanuel Children's Home where they painted the facility and cleaned the grounds.

Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Trevor Downing helped out by cleaning up around the outside of the home. He said the experience of helping someone else out makes the deployment that much more meaningful.

"I feel a lot more accomplished, like I did something for someone else during my port visit and my deployment," said Downing. "Doing something for someone else is a lot more rewarding than doing something for yourself."

After giving the home a fresh coat of paint and cleaning up the yard, Sailors played a game of soccer with several of the children living at the home.

"I think it's really important that the Navy does things like this to reach out to the community," said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW) Scott Dwyer.

Lincoln Sailors are planning to participate in several other community service projects while in Kuala Lumpur.

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently in the U.S. 7th Fleet's area of responsibility as part of a routine deployment to promote peace, cooperation and stability in the region.

Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group consists of flagship USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, San Diego-based guided-missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71), and the embarked Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 9. Ships assigned to DESRON 9 include the Everett-based destroyers Momsen (DDG 92) and Shoup (DDG 86), as well as USS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS Sterett (DDG 104).

This article was sponsored by Police Books.