Naval Submarine School Holds Annual Canned Food Drive

By William Kenny, Submarine Learning Center Public Affairs

NORWICH, Conn. (NNS) -- Instructors and students from Naval Submarine School (NSS) delivered several thousand canned goods and non-perishables, collected during the school's annual canned good drive, to

St. Vincent de Paul Place

in downtown Norwich, Conn., Dec. 16.

The items were collected during the school's annual canned good drive.

Despite freezing temperatures and a sharp wind, the Sailors loaded vehicles and transported the donations from the schoolhouse in Groton and unloaded them in Norwich.

"Everything you have shared today will be put to use. We can only help others because you, and people like you, support us," said St. Vincent de Paul Place Executive Director Jillian Corbin. "It's wonderful, especially during this season of giving, that you would provide such an example of generosity and charity. We are truly grateful."

The annual drive was spearheaded by two NSS staff members, Religious Program Specialist 2nd Class Chi San Yeung and Electronics Technician 2nd Class David Pennick, and began in mid-November 2010.

"There was a lot of hard work on everybody's part to get this done, but like I told my Sailors on the way over here, 'individually we struggle to make a difference, but together we can move the earth,'" said Pennick.

St. Vincent de Paul Place

is a community meal site and food pantry that supports homeless and families on limited incomes throughout the area.

Six days a week, volunteers prepare about 300 breakfasts and lunches, averaging in recent months close to 24,000 meals, while providing 200 families with a variety of groceries and other everyday living supplies.