Veteran Salute
Our Veterans do so much for our country and put everything on the line to protect our freedom. In honor of Veterans Day, much of the country will be enjoying a day off from work. But this year we can show our Veterans just how much we appreciate their service by spending the day “on” – giving back our time through volunteering.
Organizations like Civil Air Patrol , Corporation for National and Community Service and Points of Light are devoted to supporting service members and military families. Find volunteer opportunities in your area or create your own service project using themed toolkits.
During this time of reflection, you can also read stories about communities helping veterans, veterans serving fellow veterans and learn how you can support veterans in your community today! Veteran services are also offered through American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars .
Looking for more ways to volunteer? Join your local CERT or Citizen Corps Program. These organizations provide education, training, and volunteer services to help prepare communities for disasters.
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America's PrepareAthon! Reloaded
Now that you've reset your clocks for fall, America's PrepareAthon! has reset its registration counter for spring 2015 as of November 3. This means you can begin registering any individual, family, business or community preparedness activities that you'll be conducting between now and May 31. Please be sure to refresh your browser to see the most up-to-date information.
And with winter weather just around the corner, it's the perfect time to plan an event and be counted as a participant! America's PrepareAthon! has all the resources you'll need to get started. Find hazard-specific guides , playbooks , creative materials and videos all designed to help families, communities and organizations prepare for disasters and practice how to stay safe. Many resources, including those for earthquakes and winter storms, are now available in Spanish , French , Arabic , Japanese , Chinese and Tagalog , with more updates coming soon!
So, who wants to be the first to register for America's PrepareAthon 2015? Ready, Set, Go!
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FEMA Administrator Makes “Time for Kids”
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate recently sat down with “Time for Kids” to talk about natural disasters, proper planning, and staying safe. In the interview, the Administrator discusses how kids can play an important part in helping their families prepare for a disaster. “The first thing you should do is ask your parents what the plan is if a disaster happens while you are at home, and also when you are not at home,” he says.
For kids who want to learn more about natural disasters, the Ready website is a great place to start! It provides information about disasters, tools for building a disaster kit, interactive games to test their knowledge, and much more. Kids can also participate in events like America's PrepareAthon! and The Great ShakeOut to practice their responses to specific disasters.
It's never too early to prepare for disasters. See what else the Administrator has to say about preparedness in the full interview and get the conversation started with your family today!
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Citizen Corps and CERT Information Deadline
With the end of the year approaching, we are asking that all local Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs update their information in the registration system by no later than November 28 . Citizen Corps and CERT information collected by this deadline will be included in the 2015 National Preparedness Report.
We use the information provided by you to demonstrate the contributions you make to national, state, territorial, tribal, and local preparedness and resilience, highlight areas of growth, identify needs for new resources, and set strategic direction. Our recent webinar highlighted how your programs contributed to the preparedness and resilience of your communities, and the nation as a whole, in 2013.
Updating your online profiles provides us with information that we can use to justify continued Federal support for the Citizen Corps and CERT programs, including:
- The website and all of its free downloadable resources and an online searchable directory of programs;
- Free printed materials for registered programs through the FEMA Warehouse;
- Technical assistance and support through the Citizen Corps and CERT inboxes;
- Recognition programs like the Individual and Community Preparedness Awards;
- Outreach and education efforts, including regular e-briefs and webinars; and
- The development of new content and updates to existing content, including the CERT curriculum and supporting materials.
While we encourage you to update any new information in your online profiles, we are particularly interested in updates to the following for 2014:
- Numbers of individuals trained;
- Number of trainings conducted;
- Number of volunteers and volunteer hours;
- Council membership;
- Number of exercises; and
- Funding sources.
We are also currently in the process of updating the registration system to make it easier to use. Future updates will add a function to the system through which state and local programs should be able to generate their own reports, so that you can also use the data you enter to help support and manage your programs.
We hope that you will take the time to update your profiles, so that all of the great work you've done will be accounted for in the National Preparedness Report and elsewhere! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at citizencorps@fema.dhs.gov or at cert@fema.dhs.gov . Thank you!
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Dates for Your Calendar!
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