Mayport Mirror

Times-Union

http://mayportmirror.jacksonville.com/military/mayport-mirror/2015-03-25/story/sailors-vets-come-out-help-one-their-own

From Staff

Members of Mayport’s Second Class Petty Officer Association (SCPOA) teamed up with VetSuccess on Campus and Americorps Florida to help out a veteran in need last week.

When Angela Jenkins needed help packing up and moving from her Southside apartment back home to New Orleans she said she learned very quickly who her friends were. The mother of a four-year-old son and 15-year veteran of the Navy couldn’t do it on her own. She just had surgery to correct a service-related injury and she said she needed to move closer to her support system in Louisiana.

“I really don’t know how I was going to do [the move],” Jenkins said. It was stressing me so much. It really was depressing.” The Florida State College-Jacksonville (FSCJ) student was talking with a member of VetSuccess on Campus about the move when he suggested they help. That lead to a call to Mayport’s SCPOA and within a few hours, Jenkins truck and car were packed up and ready to head out.

"The Second Class Association wants to make an impact on our community, to make it better for the Sailors and ourselves. That’s why we’re here,” said Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class (SW) Mike Sacco.

“I like volunteering and I wanted to help her, said Boatswains’ Mate 2nd Class (SW/AW) Vareshia Steverson. “I wanted to do whatever I could to help.”

VetSuccess on Campus is a collaborative effort between Florida State College at Jacksonville and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with the purpose of providing a supportive, on-campus environment where Veteran-students may gather to obtain assistance and peer support, according to FSCJ. For more information, visit http://www.fscj.edu/military-veterans/vetsuccess-on-campus.