Local grocery store puts together a response box to donate to local Navy

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A local grocery store is collecting donations and food to send to 300 Marines currently deployed locally.

We speak to the owners of the health food store and a local organization that is hosting an event this week to support the cause.

At Bravo-6 Nutrition, they have built a deployment box that provides extra food and supplements to the Yuma Marines, who are at sea for about nine months.

The idea came from an employee here in the store.

Joshua Pembleton, the owner of Bravo 6 Nutrition, says, “The employee came up with the idea, ‘Why don’t we start supplementing them?’ So we want to try to supplement them and get them to be their best version. Maybe a few of them will get super motivated, re-enlist and realize that the boat and the Marine Corps aren’t so bad. These are Marines who just got out of MCAS Yuma, and we’re here to support those exact Marines.”

Donations can include cash, non-perishable food items, or simply items that the Marines on the ship do not have access to.

Pembleton adds, “If you just want to come by and throw something in the box that you want delivered to the boat. The other day, a customer brought us two full bags of peanut butter and said he just loves peanut butter and it’s something else that you can’t get on the boat.”

Pembleton tells us why these efforts are so important.

“I think that’s very important. The morale on the boats, listen, they sleep in 3 to 4 bunks on top of each other, it’s cramped and the food always tastes the same. We can improve their life, their lifestyle and their morale. When they’re training, we can give them supplements, energy drinks or hydration. We just try to improve their morale and the time on the boat and make their life a little bit more comfortable,” he explains.

The new deployment box will remain in place year-round and will assist the Marines in future deployments.

Pembleton, a former Green Beret, says his store is unique.

I promise you there is no other store in the United States that truly represents the military like we do here. So part of representing the military is giving back to the military community and that’s exactly what we’re doing with this deployment box,” he says.

In addition, a local organization will host a “Pouring Compassion” event to help fill the relief box.

The organizer tells us why he is getting involved.

Katie Franco, a real estate agent from Yuma, tells us, “To give back: Yuma is a military town, but we have to be consistent and constantly there for them, no matter what is happening in the world.”

The event takes place this Thursday from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Sage and Sand Cocktail Lounge and admission is free.