ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Charity begins at home. Or at a battered women's shelter in Rosedale, Md., just on the outskirts of Baltimore.
Representatives from Aberdeen Proving Grounds' Better Opportunity for Single Soldiers have given up one Saturday a month since August at the Eastside Family Resource Shelter, which houses battered women and children and some homeless citizens who have fallen on hard times.
The BOSS reps show up in the mornings and begin preparations to serve lunch.
"We come in at about 11 a.m. and we break out into teams, with one team prepping the food and one team setting up the dining room," said Cpl. Mathew Beach, BOSS rep for HHC, 143Rd Ordnance Battalion.
As shelter residents begin to trickle into the dining area, they appear eager to talk to the Soldiers, many of whom have become easily recognizable, returning to the shelter month after month.
Before lunch is served, the children of the shelter make their way to the front of the dining area and lead the group in prayer.
"At this point, we again break into teams and half of the Soldiers are preparing plates to be served," said, APG BOSS president Spc. Carlos Rios, "and the other half are serving as waiters-taking orders, making sure glasses are filled, they have utensils and then taking the food out on trays to the tables."
This, he said, is a rare treat for residents who live in the orderly but confined space of the facility. Two open bays are stacked with bunk beds and wall lockers, a lifestyle that many Soldiers are all too familiar with.
"Everyone's gone through hard times in their lives," said Rios. "These people are going through obviously harder times than you or I may be going through now, but they're just like any of us and they need a helping hand. And that's what we're there for."
And residents seem to appreciate it.
"One of the people there is a veteran, and both he and his daughter live at the shelter,' said Beach. "And his daughter always comes up to one of us and gives us a big hug."
Hard times made just a little easier by lending a helping hand is what it's all about, said Rios.
"There are a few new faces when we arrive, but most of them are the same people we see every month," he said. "Some of the residents stay a year or more, trying to get on their feet."
Sgt. Rebekah Lloyd said that throughout lunch families continue to chat amongst themselves and with the Soldiers about day-to-day life. After the meal, the Soldiers serve dessert and begin cleaning up.
"Then the families go back to either playing with their children or the ones that have jobs go to work," said Lloyd. "Some of the residents help the Soldiers clean up the kitchen as part of their shelter chores."
The Soldiers and some of the residents exchange hugs and promises to see each other again soon, and the troops load into their cars and make their way back to their homes or barracks rooms at APG.
"We don't volunteer because we have to or because we are told to, we volunteer because we want to make this community a better place a happier place," said Beach.
APG's 40 BOSS reps have tallied more than 850 hours of non-duty community service. Less than half of the members clocked more than 400 hours alone.
As of Jan. 1, 2010, the reps have volunteered their services to the League of Dreams, Armed Forces Retirement Home, Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, Perry Point Veterans Home and the Harford Family House in Aberdeen.
To volunteer or for more information about the APG BOSS, visit their new site http://www.bossandapg.webs.com or call Rios at 410-306-2649.
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