Delaware Citizen Corps Receives Award

On November 7, 2007 Bob George Citizen Corps Program Manager, and Marny McLee Citizen Corps Training and Outreach Coordinator for the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) were presented the Regional Response and Readiness Award.

The award was presented during the Regional All Hazards Forum held at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Md. The Mid-Atlantic All Hazards Forum (AHF) is a public-private partnership of Mid-Atlantic States and private corporations. It is sponsored by the All Hazards Consortium (AHC), a new non-profit organization formed by the Mid-Atlantic States.

The Consortium is a regional model designed to improve regional preparedness in the areas of homeland security and emergency management by facilitating dialogue among state government leadership and increasing interaction between state and local governments; industry/private sector; universities; and non-profits organizations. Participating states include Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

In addition to the many familiar programs that Delaware Citizen Corps is conducting, they have created Communication Corps, an initiative to leverage the resources statewide of the volunteer and amateur radio communities. Delaware includes many different volunteer communications organizations and realized that an overarching council needed to be produced to help coordinate those efforts while not competing against other organizations.

Delaware Communication Corps has participated in a variety of regional exercises including two from the Delmarva Emergency Task Force (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia), many exercises for Region III including the U.S. Department of Defense through the Military Affiliate Radio System.

Bob and Marny on behalf of their State Director of Emergency Management, their State Citizen Corps Council, and their entire Program partners in Preparedness, thanked the Board of Directors of the All Hazard Consortium. “We gratuitously accept this award and see this as a validation of not only Delaware’s efforts in Citizen Preparedness but as a validation of the terrific Citizen Corps Councils’ in our Region. Your mission to help create new resources and funding opportunities for states to support regional multi-state collaboration efforts from all stakeholders is indeed the forward thinking we need to be better prepared to Plan, Respond and Recover.”

Unattended Child Center Briefing

Anne McCann of the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) Coordinator for the Unattended Child Center (UCC) and Darryl Dawson of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services brief the Ocean View Citizen Corps Council Civilian Auxiliary Police (CAP) Unit. The purpose of the UCC is to provide short term caring environment/shelter for unattended children who may become separated from their parents, custodians, or legal guardians during emergencies. The CAP will be used as volunteers in the (UCC) if one was to be opened during an disastrous event. Delaware Citizen Corps is a member of the UCC Council.

Never to Young to Learn Safety

As a part of Fire Safety Awareness , George Giles Director of the Wilmington Office of Emergency Management and the City of Wilmington Citizen Corps/CERT Council , teaches children how to operate a Fire Extinguisher at the Elsmere Fire Company. This portable fire extinguisher equipment is also utilized as a part of our Fire Safety Class in our Community Emergency Response Training (CERT).

Web Site Updates

Citizen Corps has updated two major portions of our website, www.delawarecitizencorps.org. The resources section features new videos by Ready.gov on disaster preparedness. These videos include preparedness for senior citizens, people with pets, and people with non-typical functional needs.

Additionally we've updated the Partner Programs page with information about some new partnerships with the American Legion and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program.

Continue to check the website for more information the All-Hazards Consortium Committee and the award they presented to the Delaware Citizen Corps Council during their meeting at the Baltimore Convention Center on November 7th. Photos and story coming soon!