Our Blog and Facebook Page are a Ready.gov Coalition Partner are you?

Neighbors Helping Neighbors has been contacted by the FEMA Office of External Affairs to help share the "Emergency Preparedness" message on our blog for September.

"Greetings:

I am writing to see if I can interest your blog in a topic for September – emergency preparedness.

National Preparedness Month (NPM), sponsored by FEMA’s Ready Campaign, is a national campaign during the month of September to increase emergency preparedness across the U.S. I am currently reaching out to emergency and disaster-related blogs to ask for help in encouraging Americans to take steps toward preparedness. Slightly more than half of Americans say they have taken steps toward preparedness, and your blog would be a great place to encourage the rest to get prepared.

You can find information about the Ready Campaign and National Preparedness Month at Ready.gov, and I can provide you with additional information or answer any of your questions. This is such an important, yet often forgotten task, not just during National Preparedness Month, but year-round. We would be delighted if your blog would consider supporting preparedness.

Thank you in advance for your support,

... on behalf of
The Ready Campaign
Office of External Affairs
Federal Emergency Management Agency
npm@dhs.gov"

Readers of our blog, who have their own blog and facebook page, such as http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps should also spread this message of "Emergency Preparedness".

Red Cross makes a difference at Ft. Belvoir

The American Red Cross hosted a Preparedness Kit-making event at Ft. Belvoir for military families.

Checkout the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFPbPTxxdS4

Additional discussions about National Preparedness Month can be found at http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

If you cant trust the internet for information where can we go?

In the last blog entry, we questioned the accuracy of some of the information on the internet. So where can we go to get validated up to date information.

The following US Government website:

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

"One-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information."

International Day for Disaster Reduction - Presentation Now Available

Some may have noticed this blog pretty quiet over the past week.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors had the opportunity to participate in multiple forums, including International Day for Disaster Reduction with representatives from the World Bank, United Nations, NGOs, universities, and industry.

The presentation that Andrew Levy delivered is available on the World Bank website.

"We are very pleased with the outcome of this collaboration with you and the audience found this workshop very useful according to feedback we received.

We could now leverage this spirit of collaboration and goodwill which emerged between participating organizations as a result of this workshop. We have discussed the need for stronger collaboration to take this agenda forward, in addition to highlighting a number of best practices, specific solutions and lessons learned." (World Bank).

No Cost Internet For Awareness - You've Been Exposed

As we continue to think about partners or ways to increase awareness at no cost, we spent a few minutes to see where Neighbors Helping Neighbors (http://citizencorps.blogspot.com/) has appeared on the internet over the past year.

Here are some of the places articles or references can be found.

GOVERNMENT WEBSITES

Ready.gov

Department of Homeland Security
National Citizen Corps
Virginia Department of Emergency Management
Nebraska Deparment of Education
Samal City Government
Fairfax County Government

INDUSTRY MAGAZINES

Government*Horizons
Homeland Defense Journal

CONFERENCES

World Conference on Disaster Management

National Conference on Community Preparedness

Showcase Ontario

ASSOCIATIONS

International Association of Emergency Managers

National Organization on Disability

Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations

Volunteer Fairfax

NEWSPAPERS

Washington Post

All Voices

Fairfax Times

Connection Newspapers

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Facebook

LinkedIn

Second Life

SAMPLE BLOGS

Anniston Star Police
St. Charles County Citizen Corps Council
Fairfax County CERT
Mindanao Bloggers
American In Davao

General Santos

Dr. Dorodny

New Learning Playbook

Neighbors Helping Neighbors is pleased to share our experiences with

http://www.newlearningplaybook.com/

and

http://jeannemeister.com/

for publication in a book about corporate innovations.

A Nation of Change

There have been several organizations that Neighbors Helping Neighbors has been working with.

This week we will highlight some of those organizations and coalition partnerships.

Including an organization that as part of their vision is to "...devote ourselves to the idea of a common interest and a common destiny, then perhaps as a nation we can move past bitter partisan gridlock and the sense that ordinary citizens have no real voice in our democracy. And if we can do that we can begin the important work of addressing together our greatest challenges as a nation."

Sounds simple enough.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors will also feature some ways you can get involved on these national initiatives to take volunteerism to the next level. Helping you make a difference, "Locally, Nationally and Around the World!"

Happy Anniversary Neighbors Helping Neighbors Blog

One year ago today, as part of National Preparedness Month 2007, we launched the Neighbors Helping Neighbors blog as part of a local awareness campaign.

Within one year, the blog has grown to become an international resource sharing best practices from around the world, with a focus on emergency response volunteers, including youth.

We have now reached over

13,000 people

70 countries

1,500 cities

This does not include the thousands of people who regularly read this blog through RSS feeds.

As part of National Preparedness Month 2008, we have really taken this forum to the next level by announcing an International Youth Representative and National Representative.

Demonstrating that volunteers can make a difference and share best practices "Locally and Around the World".

Stay Safe!

Andrew S. Levy, Executive Director
Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Neighbors Helping Neighbors Blog Joins National Preparedness Month Coalition For Second Year

For additional information on National Preparedness Month in the United States, please visit:

http://www.ready.gov/

It is hard to believe that this website was launched almost a year ago, as part of National Preparedness Month.

Comments From A Reader

Thank you for your comments Terry.

"You're bringing REAL issues forth that most volunteer orgs just sweep under the rug and hope nobody asks"

To view his complete comments visit:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8844377697433004498&postID=1709018323705052841

Please keep in mind the information is designed for educational and awareness purposes only and is not provided as a professional service.

As with disaster preparedness, it all begins with awareness.

The next topic will present a sample "Terms of Use" and "Disclaimers" that others may want to leverage on their websites. This and none of the material provided should be seen as legal advice.

It not only applies to blogs, but also conferences, presentations, and other forms of communications.

Blog Readers Around The World

Since the last readership update in January 2008, the number of countries that view http://citizencorps.blogspot.com/ has doubled.

We now have readers from approximately 50 countries, over 650 cities around the world, and all 50 states.

Sharing best practices locally and around the world helps us all be better prepared.