Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 1808, Marlton, visited the library this week.
Evesham’s library isn’t near a coast, but it was well-guarded this week when four members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary stopped by to donate about a dozen new books to the library and read a story about the Coast Guard to a group of children.
Mike Slepian, Tim Hyde, Mark Rubino and Jerry Goldkrantz of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 1808, Marlton, visited the library on Tuesday this week for the bit of community outreach.
Slepian, who serves as public affairs officer for the Marlton Flotilla, said the group has about 27 members who regularly meet at the Gibson House Community Center and use the library each year to teach boating safety courses.
The library also offers a front display box to the Marlton Flotilla every May and June to help the group promote its mission and water safety.
With that in mind, Slepian said the Marlton Flotilla wanted to present a certificate of appreciation to the library, as well as donate several books, including many from the educational “Adventures of Onyx” series, which teaches children about the Coast Guard through the adventures of Coast Guard dog Onyx.
“We thought, why don’t we get a dozen brand new books about the Coast Guard, children and adult, and so our flotilla purchased them and donated them to the library,” Slepian said. “They’re probably books the library doesn’t already have, and now they’ll have them.”
In addition to reading a story to kids at the library, Slepian also demonstrated several pieces of Coast Guard Auxiliary equipment, including a life jacket, float coat, signal mirror, strobelight, a radio, personal locator beacon and more.
“Our No 1. mission is boating safety and education,” Slepian said. “That’s why I go to schools and other places and show the kids that they should always wear their life jacket and how to put it on.”
Founded in 1939, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is a uniformed, volunteer arm of the United States Coast Guard with about 30,000 members across the nation to supplement the nearly 40,000 men and women of the Coast Guard.
In addition to promoting safety and education, duties of Coast Guard auxiliarists can include providing additional on-water security during events such as the Atlantic City Airshow, serving as watchstanders at Coast Guard stations, training to assist Coast Guard helicopter pilots as they practice rescue skills, serving as cooks for the Coast Guard at sea and more.
“A lot of people think of the Coast Guard Auxiliary as boats, and it’s not just boats anymore,” Slepian said. “If you have a background in human resources, or public affairs, or finance or cooking or any of those things — the Coast Guard Auxiliary wants you.”
To learn more about the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, visit www.cgaux.org.
