SPANISH FORT, Ala.—U.S. Navy crewmembers from the U.S.S. Independence LCS-2 ship stopped by the Prodisee Pantry—a faith-based nonprofit food pantry in Spanish Fort that provides food to needy Baldwin County residents—Saturday to help pack more than 1,100 food boxes for needy families for Thanksgiving.

About 32 members of the blue and gold crews packed up Thanksgiving boxes comprising one corn muffin mix; two cans of corn; three cans of green beans; one can of cranberry sauce; a can of pumpkin; one pie crust; one can of cream of mushroom soup; two boxes of macaroni-and-cheese; one bag of mashed potatoes; and   an inspirational note for the family.

“It takes all of you to make this happen,” Deann Servos, executive director at the Pantry, said to the crewmembers. “We’re here by the grace of God and the goodness of people’s hearts.”

The crew stuffed 1,103 holiday food boxes and 80 regular food boxes in three hours, Servos said.

“They filled boxes as fast as they could,” Servos said. “They were great.

“We even had some that would compete to see how fast they could assemble the boxes.”

Crew members filed in assembly-line fashion to fill the boxes.

Some of the crew folded boxes, some scurried to bring out more food pallets while some packaged the boxes and made them ready to be stacked and sealed with a handwritten ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ message on the boxes.

“We’re glad to do it,” crewmember Rob Hallowell said. 

“We love to help.

“We’ve been looking for things to do to help the community.”

The crew’s ship is at Austal Shipyard in Mobile and the crew will remain in the Mobile area until it’s finished, Hallowell said.

While the crew waits for the ship to be ready, crewmembers have spent a lot of time with classroom training, Lt. Mark Blaszczyk, public affairs officer, said.

He said he feels the day was successful, especially since the crew made more than 1,100 boxes.

The 127-meter combat ship was christened Oct. 4 in the waters of Mobile with more than 1,000 guests present, according to www.austal.com, the shipyard’s official Web site.

The LCS-2 is one of Austal USA’s biggest construction projects to date, along with the 113-meter Hawaii Superferry, the site said.

Littoral combat ships, such as the Independence, carry out operations such as mine countermeasures, the prosecution of surface attacks and anti-submarine warfare, the site said. 

As of Nov. 10 there are 332,436 Navy personnel on active duty, 283 deployable battle force ships and more than 3,700 operational aircrafts, according to navy.mil, the Navy’s official Web site. 

The Independence will hold a 40-person crew, but has the ability to hold up to 75, Blaszczyk said.