GEORGIA - The Center for Sustainable Communities, Georgia Power and the Georgia Medical Reserve Corp have received Individual and Community Preparedness Award Honorable Mentions from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The Center for Sustainable Communities was given Honorable Mention in the Community Preparedness Champions category for its Young Meteorologist Program “Rally for Resilience.”
This free event was held at Wolf Creek Library in Atlanta in November 2016 and used fun, engaging learning experiences to teach children, particularly those from underserved communities, about natural hazards and how to cope.
Georgia Power received Honorable Mention in the Prepareathon in Action category for its Prepareathon for Winter Weather Safety. This online campaign was held in coordination with Georgia’s 2016 Winter Weather Preparedness Week. It educated 2.5 million customers about how winter weather affects Georgia and the specific actions they can take to become winter-ready.
Georgia Medical Reserve Corp secured Honorable Mention in the Outstanding Citizen Corps Partner Program category for recruiting and training a statewide volunteer physician force to augment their community’s disaster response efforts by supporting a portable hospital facility in an emergency.
“This particularly devastating hurricane season underscores the importance of grassroots efforts that bring the entire community together to create a culture of preparedness,” said FEMA Region IV Regional Administrator Gracia Szczech. “FEMA is proud to tout the great efforts of these Georgia organizations that are working to transform their community’s resiliency.”
FEMA will host a webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. EST with Individual and Community Preparedness Award recipients, who will share best practices in creating successful preparedness initiatives. To register for this free event, visit https://icpd.adobeconnect.com/awards20171/event/registration. Closed captioning will be provided.
Emergency management is most effective when the whole community is engaged and involved. Faith-based organizations, service agencies, businesses and associations, tribal organizations, youth and older Americans, and people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, can make a real difference in their communities before, during, and after disasters. Each year, FEMA honors individuals and organizations who excel at inspiring the public to be ready if a tornado, hurricane, wildfire, or other disaster were to strike their community.
Visit https://www.ready.gov/awards for more information and to see the 2017 award recipients and all Honorable Mentions.
