NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Navy Chief Petty Officer Heather Lane had a grin that remained constant for hours as she chopped away on peppers and cucumbers to fill the large clear containers with vegetables for the next meal at the Nashville Rescue Mission here.
Service sometimes refers to a military commitment or the action of helping others. For Lane, it means both.
The meaning of the word was all in her smile.
She wasn’t the only one smiling. Nine other sailors from Navy Recruiting District Nashville were assisting in the assembly line of meal preparation to help feed the homeless as part of an ongoing community outreach effort. A group of recruiters filled food trays with ham sandwiches while others emptied cans of corn to prepare in a large vat. The whole group was there to volunteer and serve largely as of result of Lane.
Passionate About Volunteer Work
For her, volunteering has become a passion over the course of nearly 20 years in naval service.
“I started volunteering because of my childhood. I came from a past where people would show up to my door and they were the ones that provided my Christmas gifts. I started giving back because I’m now the one in a place where I can give back,” said Lane, a native a Biddeford, Maine, and current resident of Gallatin, Tennessee.
The more Lane served, she said, the more her motivations matured, driving the intensity of her efforts.
“It started out as giving back to replace what I was given as a child. Then it became about giving back for my career. Later, it became about giving back for the glory of God. Now it’s just a contagious thing seeing a smile on someone’s face knowing that I helped to put it there. It’s a pretty awesome feeling,” she said.
Recruiting Others to Help
When she says contagious, she practices what she preaches. Once she understood the impact that her time and effort could produce, she sought out ways to multiply her enthusiasm and that meant recruiting others to join her. It has led her on many group projects at previous naval commands and most recently to the Nashville Rescue Mission and a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Each time she signed up with the expectation of recruiting others, she found the line of volunteers form quickly behind her. Nearly a dozen sailors met her in Gallatin when she decided to volunteer at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in order to benefit a friend who lost his home to a fire. As she saw the group of people standing beside her, she was overwhelmed and inspired.
“There are times that I will tear up because I know I am making a difference. People sometimes believe that one person can’t make a difference, but I believe that one person can. If everybody believed that this world would be a different place,” she said.
New Career
In less than a year, Lane will retire from the Navy and begin a civilian career. When she leaves she will have completed in excess of 6,000 volunteer hours, received four Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medals, and be eligible for the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for volunteer service. She said that she counts the experience of service far more worthy than the medal itself, though she does appreciate the recognition as a reminder of what she was able to do in addition to an honorable military career. In one way, the medals have taken on meaning that transcends the other service awards that she has achieved and she is glad that the Navy encouraged her efforts.
“When I received awards for my job, it was mostly because of something that I had to do. The Volunteer Service Medal isn’t something that I went on a path to get. It was something that people started recommending me for. At first I didn’t necessarily want it because I didn’t need to be recognized for something that I already love to do. But then I realized how much it meant that my [leaders] recognized me for something that was beyond the regular requirements of my job,” she said.
As for life after the Navy, she already plans to continue pursuing her passion and is closely watching the volunteer coordinator opportunities around Nashville.
“I will do something that I love. It’s not going to be about money, but about being a lifelong volunteer and encouraging others to join me,” she said.
Navy Recruiting District Nashville is responsible for recruiting efforts throughout more than 100,000 square miles of the states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Virginia.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Heather Lane sorts vegetables at the Nashville Rescue Mission in Tennessee, where members of Navy Recruiting District Nashville volunteered to prepare and serve food for the homeless, Dec. 28, 2016. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy Walter