Coast Guard donates goods for upcoming holidays

PITTSBURGH — Members from Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Pittsburgh take a photo with donated goods before delivering them to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Nov. 18, 2011. For 31 days, members collected approximately 134 pounds of canned goods, detergent and much more. The goods totaled more than 104 non-perishable items to donate to the food bank in preparation for the upcoming holidays. U. S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. j. g. Alanna McGovern.

PITTSBURGH — Member of Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Pittsburgh held a Thanksgiving food drive from Oct. 17 to Nov. 17, 2011, to support the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

The goods were taken to the food bank in Duquesne, where they were sorted and distributed to 11 counties throughout southwest Pennsylvania.

"Though we invest most of our time to the community primarily through maritime safety and security at the MSU, it made me happy to be able to help the community through a volunteer effort, as well as knowing that the Pittsburgh community will benefit from our contribution," said Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Cloutier, a boatswain's mate at MSU Pittsburgh.

Some of the daily operations at the food bank include deliveries, tracking, preparing orders and re-packaging food. With the help of MSU Pittsburgh and other donating organizations, the food bank is able to distribute approximately 21 million pounds of food per year.

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