Photo courtesy of Midshipman 1st Class Victor Hurlbert. Midshipmen volunteers sort books donated by local citizens to be shipped to schools and libraries in developing nations.

‘‘It's our responsibility as naval officers to be aware of the community around us, and there's no better way to practice and understand that responsibility than volunteering as midshipmen,“ said Midshipman 3rd Class Kiley Provenzano.

The ultimate goal of BIG, to ‘‘spread peace through literacy,” recognizes that education offers progress and an alternative to violence and terrorism. The non-profit, humanitarian association collects, organizes and ships donated books from local citizens to schools and libraries in developing nations. Additionally, BIG sends novels to victims of natural disasters in the U.S., Native American reservations and community Boys and Girls Clubs.

U.S. troops stationed overseas also receive books through the BIG project, and the midshipmen recognize that they are giving back to something that they may one day benefit from.

‘‘Someday, my troops and I will be receiving these books,” Midshipman 2nd Class Jeremy Harbaugh.

During the months of March and April, midshipmen from 7th, 11th and 23rd Companies devoted Saturday mornings to collecting, sorting and packing books for shipments to Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya and the Phillippines. The midshipmen prepared 20,000 books for overseas shipments.

‘‘It is definitely relevant for our futures as naval officers,” said Midshipman 1st Class Kiel Reese. ‘‘In a very practical sense, what this organization is doing is helping generate goodwill toward the U.S.”

With community service now part of the Midshipmen Qualification Standards (MQS), a mandatory training requirement to complete before graduation, working with something like the BIG project provides an important training tool for midshipmen.

‘‘Teaching my Plebes the importance of community service was one of my top priorities and I thought BIG did just that,” said Midshipman 1st Class Matthew Schwab, training officer for 23rd Company. ‘‘Working with other volunteers and realizing the importance of what they were doing opened their eyes. For only a couple hours on a Saturday we were able to do about six weekends of work for them. All in all, my Plebes left with a sense of satisfaction.”

In addition to a personal feeling of satisfaction, the midshipmen found that they benefitted in other ways as well.

‘‘Participating in the program was definitely a blast,” said Midshipman 4th Class Stewart Simpson. ‘‘I not only helped increase education around the world, but I also increased my own education. As a group, we managed to complete a lot of work for the program. I was also exposed to so many new books I never even thought about.”

‘‘It is important to remember the role of the Navy in humanitarianism,” said Midshipman 4th Class Brigid Byrne. ‘‘Project BIG provides a good way to remember that some people don’t enjoy the same opportunities as we do so we need to use our skills to give them the same opportunities.”

Besides MQS training, MAG coordinates Saturday Morning Trainings (SMTs) for Plebes and liaisons with extracurricular activities wishing to participate in BIG. Volunteers operate the Parole Rotary facility every second and fourth Saturday each month and are always seeking extra hands when boxing books. MAG also arranges bins for midshipmen to donate used textbooks at the end of each semester.