Fifteen people from the USS Nimitz were busy working at the Lake Stevens Police Department last Saturday.
These military personnel took time out of their weekend to help beautify the grounds at the police department as a way to stay involved in local communities. This meant digging up blackberry bushes in an effort to clear a stream behind the building.

“We do this often, probably every couple of weeks they have a community service project for us if we would like to do it,” Lorena Gutierrez said. “I have a good time and I like volunteering.”

Helping in  local communities helps tie the sailors to the place they live and come home to after serving on the Nimitz for months at a time.

“A lot of these people live here in Lake Stevens and we ought to let them know we welcome them,” Pat Thomas, the facilitator for this project said.

Thomas is a Lake Stevens resident and a Vietnam Vet whose heart is closely attached to all military men and women.
“I’ve been living in Lake Stevens for the last 10 years and I’ve been praying for that ship for those 10 years as well,” he said.
The sailors aren’t getting much of a break from ship duties this time around but dozens offered to step off the ship and spend their free time supporting local communities.

“Our time in port was really short so it was awesome that so many jumped on this opportunity,” ship Chaplain Patrick Moured said.

Firefighters and police officers brought a cooler full of Gatorade and thanked the men and women for their hard work. Subway sandwiches downtown also served all of the workers lunch to thank them for their service.

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