JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Two ceremonies honoring Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall volunteers took place April 29 and May 1. JBM-HH Marines honored their volunteers at the end of April with a luncheon at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel while 21 organizations and over 110,000 Army volunteer hours were recognized May 1 at Spates Community Club.
Twenty-six Marines were in attendance for the Marine Corps Family Team Building and Headquarters and Service Battalion 2014 volunteer appreciation luncheon. Before awarding civilians and Marines with letters and certificates of appreciation, Headquarters and Service Battalion, Henderson Hall Sgt. Maj. Craig Cressman encouraged Marines to continue to make volunteering a lifelong adventure while thanking them as a group.
"It has been you feeding the homeless, and it has been you going out and representing the National Capital Region," Cressman said. "I can't thank you enough for all the veterans, for all the homeless and for all the deserving people who are out there who need help.
"You are the ones who took the step forward; it has been you - without rewards - sure, you get the smiles and you get the handshakes- this lunch is for you," Cressman continued. "It is our appreciation to you for being great Americans and being great Marines and more importantly, for being great citizens of this country."
Many Marines and civilians received multiple awards including Marine Staff Sgt. Michael Moss, a traffic management specialist. He received the President's volunteer service gold level award for completing 500 hours of volunteer work toward the community.
"This is a great honor," said Moss, who has been a Henderson Hall Marine since October 2012.
The Henderson Hall volunteer program has been in existence for nearly 20 years. Since 1996, Marines and the Marine Corps Family Team Building group have assisted the community throughout the greater D.C. region.
Forty-eight hours after the Marine ceremony, JBM-HH honored Army volunteers and the civilian workforce for their dedication to improving non-profits and making joint base organizations and offices function more efficiently. Among the groups and organizations mentioned for logging the most volunteer hours were the Army Officers' Wives' Club of the Greater Washington Area-Fort Myer Thrift Shop. Thrift shop workers and volunteers gave 15,000 hours of their time this past year, and the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) contributed 10,000 hours of volunteer time.
"Here at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, we love to salute our volunteers, and we applaud all of their accomplishments," said Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Commander Col. Fern O. Sumpter. "Volunteer contributions by our military and civilian personnel and their families make a real difference in our community, and ultimately serve to make our community a better place to live, grow and work."
Sumpter was joined by Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region/Military District of Washington Commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan to present the 2014 volunteer of the year award to Tracey Wunderlich.
Wunderlich, a unit readiness group leader, volunteers with the Old Guard Ladies Association and can be found giving her time Wednesday evenings during the spring and summer at JBM-HH Twilight Tattoos.
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