This Citizen Corps News Digest is provided by FEMA's Individual & Community Preparedness Division to highlight community preparedness and resilience resources and activities recently announced by federal agencies and Citizen Corps partners.

DHS and FEMA Updates

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate Challenges YOU: Submit Your Ideas on how to Prepare Communities Before Disaster Strikes
Have you had a great idea on preparedness that you want to share?  FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate challenges YOU to participate in a challenge to come up with creative ideas on how we can prepared communities before disaster strikes.   Submit your own ideas by January 31st, read and comment on some of the great ideas here:

An Agenda for Secure and Resilient Critical Infrastructure
Todd M Keil, DHS Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, discussed critical infrastructure security and resilience in a piece he contributed to the DHS blog.  He said "Critical Infrastructure Protection Month has come to a close, but we at the Department of Homeland Security urge all Americans to remain aware of the importance of critical infrastructure as it relates to our national security."  Read more about DHS efforts to enhance national, regional and local resilience by going to the:

DHS Announces Partnership with WCO to Strengthen the Security and Resiliency of the Global Supply Chain
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced a new partnership with the World Customs Organization (WCO) to enlist other nations, international bodies and the private sector in increasing the security of the global supply chain—outlining a series of new initiatives to make the system stronger, smarter and more resilient.  During remarks to shipping and cargo stakeholders, security experts and government officials at the European Policy Centre, Secretary Napolitano discussed the three main elements of this international effort to strengthen the security of the global supply chain:  Preventing terrorists from exploiting the global supply chain to plan and execute attacks; protecting the most critical elements of the supply chain system, such as transportation hubs and related critical infrastructure, from attacks and disruptions; and building the resilience of the global supply chain to ensure that if something does happen, the supply chain can recover quickly.  Read more about this partnership on the:

FEMA Donates Furniture to Nonprofit Agencies
FEMA's Louisiana Recovery Office donated furniture to the first of seven nonprofits, Calcasieu Unmet Needs Committee earlier this month at the Sherwood Staging facility in Baton Rouge.  The Calcasieu Unmet Needs Committee and the other six nonprofit agencies – all affiliated with the Louisiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters – will use the furniture donations in their continued disaster work.  FEMA's backup inventory of bedroom, living room and kitchen furniture was previously used as replacement items for temporary housing units (travel trailers, mobile homes and park models) and was stored at the Sherwood Staging facility. No longer needing the furniture for their current individual assistance efforts, FEMA offered the property through Louisiana VOAD agencies.  In addition to the Calcasieu Unmet Needs Committee, other nonprofit recipients of donated furniture include the Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership, the Terrebonne Readiness and Assistance Coalition, the Islamic Circle of North America, New Beginning Outreach Ministry, Guide Post Ministries and Delinquent Alternative Ministries. See the full article on the:

Citizen Corps Partners and Affiliates Updates

Leading Public Safety Associations Sponsor 9-1-1 Honor Awards
The E9-1-1 Institute, National Emergency Number Association (NENA), Association of Public-Safety Communications-Officials International (APCO), National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA), and 9-1-1 Industry Alliance (9IA) want to remind you that nominations are open for the 2010 9-1-1 Honor Awards and due by January 15th.  These organizations, which represent 25,000 emergency communications professionals nationwide, bestow the awards each year to honor heroes and leaders in 9-1-1. The 2011 awards ceremony will take place at the 9-1-1 Honors Gala on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 in Washington, DC. The Co-Chairs of the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus have been invited to present the awards.  Descriptions, eligibility requirements, the nomination form, and submission instructions can be found online at:

Students Continue King's Legacy through a Semester of Service
With the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr Day this month, United We Serve will launch "Semester of Service 2011."  Youth of all ages will use the knowledge and skills learned in school or a community-based program to create and implement innovative solutions to our nation's toughest problems. Thousands of K-12 students and college age youth will honor and continue Dr. King's legacy by joining the frontlines to help rebuild and renew their communities.  Students, educators, and community leaders from schools and organizations will plan and implement high-impact service and service-learning projects throughout the semester leading up to Global Youth Service Day (April 15-17, 2011).  Projects will tackle the root causes of meaningful community problems, such as childhood obesity, hunger & homelessness, illiteracy, natural disasters, and environmental degradation.  To learn more about Semester of Service 2011 please go to the:

You can also see some toolkits for ways to serve on MLK Day by going to United We Serve's:

2011 National Severe Weather Workshop
The 2011 National Severe Weather Workshop will be held in Norman, Oklahoma from March 3 – 5, 2011.  This is a unique and growing workshop focused on hazardous weather information-sharing, and discussions on the effective transmission of messages about meteorological risk. Emergency managers, weather enthusiasts, teachers, students, meteorologists, broadcasters, and vendors in threat alerting, sheltering, and communications will gather, present, and discuss inter-related topics about weather hazards. For more information please go to NOAA's National Weather Service website at:

Sincerely,

The National Office of Citizen Corps
FEMA Individual & Community Preparedness Division