Citizen Corps Opportunities

Citizen Corps is the component of USA Freedom Corps that creates opportunities for individuals to volunteer in helping their communities prepare for and respond to emergencies by bringing together local leaders, citizen volunteers, and the network of first responder organizations, such as fire, EMS, and law enforcement.
The mission of Citizen Corps is to harness the power of every individual through personal responsibility, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to emergencies and disasters of all kinds, including threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, etc., especially during major events when response agencies may be overwhelmed initially.
Citizen Corps is adapted to each community and managed at the local level by a Citizen Corps Council, or similar entity, comprised of leaders from the first responder and emergency management community, volunteers, community services, faith- and community-based organizations, educational institutions, medical facilities, business and industry, and community neighborhood networks.
 

 Citizen Corps Needs Your Help! Posted 1/18/05

Click here for story and listing of items needed.

Sandoval Fire

Join Keith County Citizen Corps Today!

Contact either of the following to

share of your skill and abilities!

n December 27, 2005, in late afternoon, there was a house fire in the 100 Block of West 8 Street. As she was leaving to run an errand, Amanda Sandoval thought that she had turned the burner off on the stove. Accidentally, the burner was set to “high.” She had been sterilizing baby bottles / “sippie” cups. Fire damage was confined to the kitchen area of the house owned by Max Towell. However, there was some heat damage and extensive smoke damage to the remainder of the residence.
Amanda lived in the residence with her significant other, Andre Franklin, and their three children; Matthew, age 3; Crystal, age 2; and Benjamin, age 1.
One of the activities of the Keith County Citizen Corps is to work to help families who experience a house fire. Our organization has provided them with 2 weeks of temporary housing at the Plaza Inn; a roll off from Waste Management for disposing of unsalvageable items; a storage unit at Westside Storage through February; several plastic totes to store clothing and supplies; and quarters for many loads of laundry at the local Laundromat (fortunately, most of their clothing cleaned nicely.) Bruce Jensen of ServiceMaster volunteered his time to give them advice on how to clean some of their personal contents and told them what furnishings and contents could not be cleaned due to the smoke/heat damage. Most of the furniture is not salvageable. Citizen Corps is planning to have Bruce attempt to clean several small family heirlooms.
Amanda and Andre have found a home to rent in Ogallala from Dayton Armstrong and will soon be moving in. They have need for many items to get re-settled. If you have, or know of someone who might have, any of the following items in useable condition either as a donation or at low cost, please contact me at 308.289.0155. If you would be interested in a monetary donation, checks would need to be payable to Keith County Citizen Corps. Our organization never provides direct assistance in the form of cash. We convert cash into items that are needed by the families that need our support.
Furniture
Sofa / Loveseat
Entertainment Center
Lamps and end tables
Sofa bed or 3 children’s beds
Adult bedroom set
2 dressers
Kitchen table/chairs
Electrical Appliances
Television
VCR
Vacuum Cleaner
Microwave Oven
Toaster
Other Items
Bedding
Curtains/Curtain rods
Throw rugs
Picture frames
Kitchen items – everything from spoons to pots/pans to dish rags to dish soap
Trash cans
Stuffed animals - toys

Keith County Citizen Corps

       In response to the events of September 11, 2001 and the flash flooding in Keith County in July, 2002, Keith County is organizing a “Citizens Corps.” This group will help coordinate volunteers to prepare for and respond to local emergencies. We will train and engage volunteers to make our communities safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to emergencies and disasters of all kinds, including threats of terrorism, natural disasters, crime, public health and others. Citizen Corps are especially important during major disasters when first responders may be initially overwhelmed. Citizen Corps activities are adapted to every community’s need and managed locally by a Citizen Corps Council.

      The Citizen Corps mission is to tailor activities to the community and build on community strengths to develop and implement a local strategy of having every American participate through:

      Personal Responsibility. Developing a household preparedness plan and disaster supplies kits, observing home health and safety practices, implementing disaster mitigation measures, and participating in fire/crime prevention and reporting.

      Training. Taking classes in emergency preparedness, response capabilities, first aid, CPR, fire suppression, and search and rescue procedures.

      Volunteer Service. Engaging individuals in volunteer activities that support first responders, disaster relief groups, and community safety organizations.

Why You Should Get Involved

 Having citizens who are better prepared to take care of themselves and others during times of crisis allows first responders (law enforcement, fire, emergency medical) to focus their efforts on the most critical, life-threatening situations. Everyone can do something to support local first responders.

      There are many tasks that a well-trained, organized group of citizen volunteers can perform, such as:

·         During times of heightened national security alerts, assist in planning for quick access to emergency supplies, shelter readiness and procedures review.

·         Assist with hard-to-reach, at-risk audiences to improve safety (e.g. senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, transportation, etc.)

·         Assist with opening and managing a shelter for victims of disaster.

·         Assist with providing meals for those victims displaced by a disaster or emergency.

·         Assist with providing support for families victimized by a fire or major crime.

·         Provide ongoing help to families involved in an emergency or disaster.

·         Provide volunteer labor to disaster victims (e.g. debris cleanup, basic structure repair, etc.)

·         Complete Community Emergency Response Team training to be able to help neighbors prepare for and cope with the effects of a major emergency or disaster.

·         Coordinate volunteer group activities.

·         Assist with public relations and public education.