Naval Station (NAVSTA) Everett Sailors teamed up with Tailgate Ministries and helped served dinner to the homeless at the Everett Salvation Army April 14.

Tailgate Ministries is an interdenominational aid organization that reaches out to the homeless community through the Salvation Army, by meeting their basic physical and spiritual needs.

“We get a number of churches that sponsor the food here; there are 24 churches and growing,” said Ted Hartzell, Tailgate volunteer. “We’re hoping to get more churches and businesses involved to contribute. We need more sponsors, and we need more help. We serve about 150 people a night, and towards the end of the month it goes up to about 200.”

The meal began with a quick sermon, and then everybody lined up for soup, sandwiches, chips, and cake. After dinner, everyone gathered in the sanctuary to watch a movie and sing songs of worship.

“It’s good to give back to community, and it’s very near the base so it’s really easy to get here,” said Master-at-Arms Seaman Terri Benson, NAVSTA Everett. “I like talking so I get to talk to a lot of people doing this. This gives Sailors the chance to give back to the community where they are stationed. We are around these people a lot, whether we notice them or not, and I think that it’s good to get to know people outside of the base.”

The Everett Post of the Salvation Army makes a positive impact on the community. Last year they gave out 20,000 meals, but are always looking for donations of food and money, and volunteers are needed as they continue fighting poverty in America on the front lines.

“One of the things that the Salvation Army likes to do is work together with other communities, and churches,” said Everett Salvation Army Corps Sgt. Major Sean Kelsey.

“Any opportunity that a person can take to see what the need is and be a part of the solution is good. So I think that a lot of Sailors may not be aware that people are always looking towards other countries and how poor those nations are, but a lot of times this poverty and struggle that people have is right here in our backyard. All these people have a story, everybody has something that happened in their life that put them where they are, and it can really change your life for the better to be made aware,” he added.