San Diego Sailors, Project Handclasp Work to Get Donations to Haiti

By Candice Villarreal, Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center San Diego Public Affairs

CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) San Diego teamed up with Project Handclasp in Coronado, Calif., to stage pallets of donated food and supplies for transport to Haiti Dec. 15.

The supply rating Sailors - all logistics specialists and ship's servicemen - loaded and secured 83 pallets containing more than 65,000 pounds of donated cargo onto 21 oversized U.S. Air Force pallets for transport in a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy plane. The donations began the first leg of their journey to the impoverished island nation when they departed Naval Air Station North Island Dec. 17.

"Part of being a good Sailor is helping those in need whenever and wherever you have the opportunity to do so," said Logistics Specialist 2nd Class (AW) John Laughlin.

Sailors loaded 36 pallets of toys and wagons, 20 pallets of school kits and hygiene supplies, 17 pallets - or 121,176 total servings - of High Nutrition Meals, nine pallets of school books and 15 water filters that will provide homes or facilities with safe drinking water for about 10 years apiece.

"Doing our part to make sure these goods get to the Haitian people is a great but humbling feeling," Laughlin said. "We're here as part of a bigger picture, just donating a little time and effort to something bigger than ourselves, and hopefully that will effect some type of positive change for the people of Haiti."

Project Handclasp accepts humanitarian, educational and goodwill donations contributed by the American private sector and transports them to foreign nations on a space-available basis aboard U.S. Navy vessels. The shipment of goods was transported to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where High Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2) will receive the pallets for delivery to schools, orphanages and a feeding center in Haiti.

The U.S. Navy has continued to deliver humanitarian assistance and aid to Haiti since the small island nation was rocked by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in January 2010, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and more than one million homeless or displaced. By utilizing volunteer or organic labor and space-available transportation, Project Handclasp delivers the goods at no cost to the military.

"Project Handclasp is an outstanding program within the Department of the Navy that really helps change lives abroad," said Capt. Peter Stamatopoulos, NAVSUP FLC San Diego commanding officer. "Any time NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center San Diego can lend that program a helping hand in achieving their mission to provide for the less fortunate, we're going to be there. That's what we do as part of 'A global force for good.'"

NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center San Diego, one of seven fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP Global Logistics Support, provides global logistics, business and support services to fleet, shore and industrial commands of the Navy, Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, and other joint and allied forces. Services include contracting, regional transportation, fuel, material management, household goods movement support, postal and consolidated mail, warehousing, global logistics and husbanding, hazardous material management, and integrated logistics support.

NAVSUP GLS comprises more than 5,700 military and civilian logistics professionals, contractors and foreign nationals operating as a single cohesive team providing global logistics services from 110 locations worldwide.

A component of the Naval Supply Systems Command headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pa., NAVSUP GLS is part of a worldwide logistics network of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel providing combat capability through logistics.