Naval Air Station Pensacola is well known for many things in the community, such as the Blue Angels, the National Naval Aviation Museum or the 151-foot lighthouse atop the maritime museum.
However, a small thrift shop some may not have heard of onboard Corry Station is one of the faces of a global nonprofit that has helped hundreds of thousands of sailors and marines and provided millions of dollars in financial assistance since its inception in 1904.
The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, which celebrated its 120th birthday in January, is a nonprofit that specializes in financial and non-financial assistance to help the emerging needs of current and former members of the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as their families.
The organization opened its Pensacola office in 1917.
“We help for the financial emergencies, but we want to do that financial education before the emergencies happen,” said Joy Barnes, the director of NMCRS’s Pensacola office. “It’s about the emergency assistance, but it’s really about preventing the emergencies too.”