Volunteer to Save the Economy - New York Times

"THIS week, President Obama called upon all Americans to volunteer, to pitch in and give back. We hope that the president is serious about this challenge, because providing more opportunities for national and community service won’t just lift the nation’s spirit, it could help save the economy.

...

As Americans have proven in times of crisis, what we ask of ourselves matters a great deal. If we want to create the most jobs for the lowest cost with the least bureaucracy and foster the spirit of sacrifice that the president envisions, the economic recovery plan should find a place for more Americans to do good works in hard times."

The complete article, which was featured on www.servicenation.org can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/opinion/23reed.html?_r=1

4,000 Hours Marked On Special Day In Nation's History

"In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush issued a challenge to all Americans to make time to help their neighbors, communities, and Nation through service. He called on each person to dedicate at least 4,000 hours – or two years – to service over the course of their lives. He created the USA Freedom Corps to help all Americans answer his call to service and help foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility. "


This week, as we celebrate MLK Day National Call to Service and today with the inauguration of a new president, Neighbors Helping Neighbors would like to also congratulate Andrew Levy.

During this momentous time in our nation's history, he has reached the President's Call To Service of 4,000 hours, while volunteering during MLK Day and Inauguration.

Picture above being congratulated by American Red Cross' Celebrity Cabinet Member Leeza Gibbons (also from Entertainment Tonight and Leeza), in the Regional Disaster Coordination Center.

To get involved in community service and additional information on the President's Call To Service, please visit:

http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/

And to volunteer with the American Red Cross, please visit:

http://www.redcrossnca.org/

Death Of A President Caused By Inauguration Cold - A Look Back on Lessons Learned

As we look at the windchill factor in the Washington DC area this morning, it currently below zero.

We cannot stress enough, the impact weather can have on people. Even if you are dressed in layers, remember there are parts of your face that may be exposed for long periods of time.

Weather.com has compiled

25 things you didn't know about the Presidential Inauguration

Your Voice On The President's Desk At Night

Have you heard about the Citizen's Briefing Book?

"Share your ideas on any issue facing the new administration, then rate or comment on other ideas. The best rated ideas will rise to the top -- and be gathered into a Citizen's Briefing Book to be delivered to President Obama after he is sworn in. "

http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov/

Election Lessons Learned for MRC

As the polling places have opened in the United States, there are already long lines at local schools.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors will monitor the news reports from the polling to capture some lessons learned that may benefit the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) or other mass distribution organizations.

In the event there ever is a major mass medical distribution, the lines are expected to be larger than that from an election.

How will you "REACT" in an emergency?

The following article was submitted by a Neighbors Helping Neighbors reader (Ric Skinner, Tri-EPIC Regional CERT). "What a wonderful story illustrating what CERT is all about -- neighbors helping neighbors". Items in bold were added to highlight key elements of CERT training.

My name is Stan Walters, Shrewsbury PA. My wife took the CERT training at a fire station in downtown York a few years ago. The following summer she attended an outdoor refresher day. After that I helped her to arrange for York County DES to run the CERT course at our church where I took the class. I then helped to organize the next CERT class and taught the communications segment again at our church. We graduated over 40 people between the 2 classes including one of my sons.

I am the President of York County REACT ( http://www.geocities.com/yorkcountyreact/ ), a chartered team of REACT International, Inc http://www.reactintl.org/. REACT is a volunteer communications organization but goes beyond Amateur Radio to include the Part 95 services of GMRS, FRS, MURS and CB. Six of our eight team members are CERT trained.

I have taken the following on-line IS courses; 7, 15, 22, 100, 200, 271, 317, 700 and 800. In addition I was invited by the York County CERT coordinator to attend 2 courses, MGT310 and 315 and become a member of the county Threat and Risk Assessment team.

I am active in my county by taking part in varies drills and exercises including last year's Three Mile Island drill and this spring's Peachbottom Nuclear Plant drill. I have never been "called out" or deployed by my county CERT people but my wife and I recently self-activated as instructed in our training.

A severe thunderstorm moved through our area on August 5, 2008. We were checked in to the SKYWARN NET running at the time. The storm struck to our north and east. Seeing that our home and property were OK we jumped in the car to begin an assessment of the neighborhood. We found some residents standing around a tree which had been blown down and was blocking the road. At that point we parked the car and donned our gear.

I called 911, was routed to the PA State Police who said PennDOT would be there in 2-3 hours. I organized the neighbors, someone produced a hand saw and then a chain saw and the group cut up the tree and cleared the roadway. I then called the PA State police and notified them that the road was cleared but the debris remained on the sides of the road. My wife acted as Safety Officer and we used our car's flashers, reflective triangles and electronic flares to divert traffic. We filed an incident report (ICS 201, ICS 214) with York County DES and were told we were the only CERTs to activate and do anything in the aftermath of the storms that day.

Stanton Walters, President
York County REACT
yorkcountyreact@yahoo.com

ICS-Kar - Karaoke for Officials

Dear Elected Official, Dear College President, Dear Executive, Dear NGO Board,

We would like to invite you to join our group for karaoke.

During our time in Asia Pacific, it has been amazing how many senior people from universities, government, NGOs, etc. would go out and karaoke with us. We could never imagine doing that back home.

Pictured above is a city administrator in the Philippines and also one of the leaders of the Scouts in Canada.

We have had great hospitality during our projects here. And karaoke and plenty of food helped everyone get to know each other better. We could not thank everyone here enough for the experience that will be with us for a lifetime.

Anyone who is willing to take me up on my offer to karaoke, we plan to actually purchase a karaoke unit, so see you soon. We can also share our experiences working with other cultures and other parts of this GLOBAL world! We all have a lot to learn.

Who knew I would be working with the best of the best volunteers?

As part of my volunteer work here in Asia Pacific, I would like to introduce you to some pretty incredible people. Several of which have already been featured in this blog.

Barangay Ma-a had a group of people who were headed in the wrong direction. The head of the group got these youth off of the street and turned them around.



They are a bunch of energetic youth, who are back in school, and making a difference with others. Some of them even became instructors in a very short time.

Just like all the dedicated folks we have met, Barangay Ma-a is an incredible group of people with an incredible leader. Volunteers that are making a difference in their own communities and in the world.

This group also had the honor, last week, of being recognized by the President of the Philippines as the best prepared barangay in ALL of the Philippines.

Anyone up for a World Competition on Disaster Preparedness? There would be some excellent skill sharing and a new perspective for all.

Congratulations to this team. I look forward to spending some more time with them in the next few weeks.