{"id":320236,"date":"2024-11-21T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=320236"},"modified":"2024-11-22T14:30:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T14:30:18","slug":"uso-army-community-service-bring-slice-of-joy-to-soldiers-in-japan-with-operation-pizza-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=320236","title":{"rendered":"USO, Army Community Service bring slice of joy to Soldiers in Japan with \u2018Operation Pizza Drop\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Christian Asante, far right, a USO Japan area operations specialist, serves pizza to Soldiers working on Yokohama North Dock Nov. 13, during \u201cOperation Pizza Drop,\u201d an outreach event the USO co-hosted with U.S. Army Garrison Japan\u2019s Army Community Service.
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YOKOHAMA NORTH DOCK, Japan \u2013 USO Japan partnered with U.S. Army Garrison Japan\u2019s Army Community Service to bring a slice of joy to Soldiers working here \u2014 several slices, in fact, and topped with cheese, pepperoni, sausage and more.<\/p>\n

The Nov. 13 outreach event, dubbed \u201cOperation Pizza Drop,\u201d provided free lunch on Yokohama North Dock as a token of appreciation and support to the Soldiers there, a USO representative said.<\/p>\n

ACS representatives brought with them a counselor and resilience trainer to converse with the Soldiers and listen to their stories. The organization also provided information on the various services and resources it provides.<\/p>\n

Christian Asante, a USO Japan area operations specialist, said that due to Yokohama North Dock\u2019s size and location, it is challenging to provide an array of food choices on the installation for the Soldiers who work there. The USO worked with leadership on North Dock and eventually partnered with ACS to put on Operation Pizza Drop.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to support the service members,\u201d Asante said. \u201cHaving the opportunity to actually provide them food in a place where it is most needed is a great fulfillment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Mary Wanjohi, wearing yellow, a program analyst with U.S. Army Garrison Japan\u2019s Army Community Service, talks with a Soldier on Yokohama North Dock Nov. 13, during \u201cOperation Pizza Drop,\u201d an outreach event ACS co-hosted with USO Japan.
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Mary Wanjohi, a program analyst with ACS who also oversees the Mobilization Deployment Program, said the partnership with the USO helps provide Soldiers with resources that are valuable to them whether they are deploying or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with most of the Soldiers there, and each Soldier\u2019s story was different, making the event very personal for me and for them,\u201d Wanjohi said.<\/p>\n

Wanjohi said the Soldiers on North Dock took great advantage of the event and asked a lot of insightful questions. In turn, she was able to provide them with useful information and to let them know ACS is here to take care of them and their families, whether they were deployed or not, so they can focus on their mission.<\/p>\n

Staff Sgt. Jose Castro, assigned to the 5th Transportation Company (Composite Watercraft Company), is soon expecting a baby with his wife. He said the event was not only a great resource for information on things like ACS\u2019s parent support programs, but it also helped boost morale and well-being among the Soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in the Army for 10 years, and these are some of the best programs that I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Castro said. \u201cAs a Soldier, it\u2019s good to open myself up to opportunities like this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian Asante, far right, a USO Japan area operations specialist, serves pizza to Soldiers working on Yokohama North Dock Nov. 13, during \u201cOperation Pizza Drop,\u201d an outreach event the USO co-hosted with U.S. Army Garrison Japan\u2019s Army Community Service. (Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo) VIEW ORIGINAL YOKOHAMA NORTH DOCK, Japan \u2013 USO Japan partnered with U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320238,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-320236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=320236"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320241,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320236\/revisions\/320241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/320238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=320236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=320236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=320236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}