MEDIA ADVISORY: Coast Guard partners with Red Cross to give recruits home for the holidays

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 11/27/2019 07:33 AM EST

united states coast guard

Editor’s Note:  Media interested in attending must RSVP with the TRACEN Cape May Public Affairs duty officer on Wednesday, November 27 by calling 609-224-0214 or 609-898-6362. Be prepared to show government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license or passport, and media credentials at the security checkpoint.

 

Who:     Coast Guard Recruits and Command Representatives and Operation Fireside Host Family Members

 

What:    Operation Fireside host families pick up recruits at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. Interview and photo opportunities available.

 

When:   Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 2019

               8:30 – 10 a.m.  

 

Where:  Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, 1 Munro Ave., Cape May, NJ 08204

               

 

CAPE MAY, N.J. – U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May and the American Red Cross will place more than 350 Coast Guard recruits with South Jersey families for Thanksgiving as part of Operation Fireside, Thursday.

Operation Fireside has placed recruits with South Jersey families during the holiday season since 1981. It allows recruits to celebrate the holiday with a host family while they’re separated from their loved ones during the rigorous basic training program.

Operation Fireside has been coordinated annually by the American Red Cross Southern Shore Chapter in Cape May Court House, N.J., since the program started more than three decades ago. The Red Cross solicits and tracks volunteers and host families, while Training Center Cape May pairs each recruit with a family on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The families and the recruits will meet at Training Center Cape May’s Flores Gymnasium before departing the training center. While the recruits are off base, they will be allowed to eat as much as they want, call home, and relax before beginning training again the next day.

Training Center Cape May is the Coast Guard’s only enlisted basic training program, and more than 80 percent of the service’s workforce receives basic instruction here to become Coast Guardsmen. The recruits are trained in everything from fire arms familiarization to basic water survival.