A Legacy of Service: USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Serves the Hampton Roads Community
25 April 2024
HAMPTON ROADS, Va. -- Sailors assigned to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) honored late President George H.W. Bush with a ship-wide volunteer event throughout the Hampton Roads community under the ship’s Thousand Points of Light service initiative, April 25, 2024.
The event provided an opportunity for the ship’s crew to thank the Hampton Roads community for its continued support both while deployed and at home. Sailors worked at 37 organizations across 77 locations in special appreciation to CVN 77.
The Thousand Points of Light program received its name and inspiration from Bush’s Presidential Inauguration speech in which he called on Americans to serve as a "thousand points of light" in their communities through volunteer service.
“President Bush once said, ‘any definition of a successful life must include service to other,’” said Capt. Dave Pollard, commanding officer of George H.W. Bush. “Team Avenger is doing just that by serving our country and community with pride while exemplifying our namesake’s legacy of service, grit, humility, and resilience so that, as President Bush said, ‘we can find meaning and reward by serving some higher purpose than ourselves.’"
Each department aboard the ship is participating in community service projects including volunteering at local schools, assisting at food banks, animal shelters, homeless shelters, cleaning parks and beaches and more, all to celebrate Bush’s 100th birthday this year.
“This ship-wide initiative is intended to enrich the lives of Sailors and their loved ones as we serve as the warriors, teachers, leaders, and ambassadors of our communities and uphold the spirit of our namesake’s lifetime of public service,” said Lt. Karl Gibbs, a Navy chaplain aboard George H.W. Bush and the ship’s Thousand Points of Light coordinator.
George H.W. Bush’s mission has shifted from deployed operations to service at home. This program began again after the COVID 19 pandemic with a renewed dedication to service, starting with the countries visited during the ship’s 2022-2023 deployment.
Since returning from deployment, the ship has accumulated over 6,055 volunteer hours in the spirit of Bush’s famous inaugural address where he called on Americans to serve their communities through volunteerism. After the ship-wide service day the ship will have over 9,945 hours of service.
Leaders and members of the Points of Light Foundation, Volunteer Hampton Roads, and Senator Warner’s office all came out to support the ship’s crew.
“We are honored to celebrate the 100th birthday of George H.W. Bush, by giving back to the community that has given us so much support,” said Pollard. “We are the Thousand Points of Light in our community, the good we want to see in the world.”