Headlines

2008 Citizen Corps Highlights

President Honors Volunteers at White House

Ohio Medical Reserve Corps - Make A Difference Day Ohio

Hurricane Ike Hits Ohio

National Preparedness Month

Leadership Forum

Ohio Citizen Corps - 2008 Year in Review

Happy New Year!

As 2009 begins, we want to thank all of our partners, coordinators and volunteers who have contributed to Citizen Corps' growth throughout the state in 2008.

Here are just a few highlights ...

President Honors Volunteers at White House   

	(L to R): Rebecca Serpette, Dr. Alvin Jackson, Cpt. Rob Tosatto. and David O'Reilly

On September 8, President Bush recognized the service of the more than one million volunteers of the USA Freedom Corps at a Rose Garden appreciation event.  Hundreds of volunteers, first responders, local elected officials, members of the armed services and disaster response and recovery agency personnel were invited guests to celebrate the efforts of all in making our communities across the nation safer and better prepared to respond to disasters.  Members of Citizen Corps, AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Senior Corps, Learn and Serve America and Volunteers for Prosperity came together to celebrate their service both at home and abroad in response to all hazards disasters. 

The Ohio delegation included Beth Eck Chair of Franklin County Citizen Corps/Vice President with FIRSTLINK, Ohio Community Service Council Executive Director Kitty Burcsu, John Poole, Director of Communications, and David O’Reilly, Ohio Medical Reserve Corps Co-Coordinator as well as Dr. Alvin Jackson, Director, Ohio Department of Health, Dr. Forrest Smith, Ohio Department of Health Epidemiologist and Becky Serpette, Ohio Department of Health Medical Reserve Corps Co-Coordinator. Other Ohio Citizen Corps members included  Carol Rhibar of the Westerville Citizen Police Academy/Westerville Citizen Corps, Mary Woodward, President of Ohio VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster), and Bobby Olashuk Executive Director of the Volunteer Connection of Northwest Ohio. 

	Members of the delegation on the front lawn of the White House (Back row - L to R ): Dr. Forrest Smith, Rebecca Serpette, Dr. Alvin Jackson; (Front row - L to R ): Kitty Burcsu, Beth Eck, David O'Reilly, John Poole

Ohio Medical Reserve Corps

Hurricane Ike Hits Ohio

Dry Hurricane Leaves More Than 1.9 million Ohioans in the Dark for Days Governor Declared Statewide Emergency
(Kelli Blackwell, Public Information Specialist, Ohio EMA)

Usually, if a large hurricane strikes the Gulf Coast, storm remnants hit Ohio in the form of heavy rains and flooding. But not this time.

When Hurricane Ike made landfall in Texas on September 13, meteorologists reported that the storm’s radius was almost as large as Texas, itself - more than 500 miles across. People residing along the coast and peninsula were ordered to evacuate or face “certain death.”

This time it wasn’t the storm’s excessive rains that worked their way up to Ohio; it was the storm’s massive winds. Sunday afternoon, winds equaling a Category 1 hurricane (winds up to 74 mph) took more than four hours to move diagonally across the state, southwest to northeast. The extreme winds caused downed trees and power lines throughout the state.

At the height of the incident, more than 1.9 million customers throughout Ohio were without electricity.  Governor Ted Strickland declared a state of emergency on the morning of Sept. 15; a total of seven Ohioans died as a result of the storm. Eighty-four counties, total, reported windstorm damage, fallen debris and/or power outages.

State officials worked around the clock from the state operations room (Ohio Emergency Management Operations Center), monitoring the situation, and coordinating resources through their liaisons dispatched throughout the state. Agencies and organizations included: Ohio EMA and Ohio State Highway Patrol, divisions of the Ohio Department of Public Safety; Public Utilities Commission of Ohio; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Ohio National Guard; Ohio Community Service Council; American Red Cross; and Ohio Departments of Aging, Agriculture, Health, Insurance, Job and Family Services, Mental Health, Natural Resources, and Transportation.

National Preparedness Month

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH HIGHLIGHTS

On August 29, Ohio Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt joined Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) Director Henry Guzmán, and executive directors from ODPS’ Ohio Emergency Management Agency and Ohio Homeland Security to launch the 2008 National Preparedness Month campaign in Ohio.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland joined ODPS and partners on September 11, to help raise awareness for National Preparedness Month and honor those who died on September 11, 2001, as well as those who have served and are continuing to serve our country. 

City of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman; Col. Michael R. Pannell, Deputy Commanding General, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces and Director, Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security; President, Franklin County Commission, Marilyn Brown and FIRSTLINK President Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher, participated in the event at the Ohio Statehouse. Partner organizations also hosted exhibits on the Statehouse lawn highlighting disaster preparedness planning and community partnerships that currently exist.




The Ohio Community Service Council/Ohio Citizen Corps organized volunteers to place 2,999 flags on the Statehouse lawn to honor those who died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in the Pennsylvania field where Flight 93 crashed.  The American Flags were arranged to represent the three sites.  Flags were set in the shape of the twin towers, the five-sided clearing represented the Pentagon, and the stretch of grass in the middle of the towers represented the Pennsylvania field.

LEADERSHIP FORUM

	(L to R): Rusty Groselle, Brock Bierman, Gloria Davis and Amanda Cowgill

Amanda Cowgill, Rusty Groselle and Gloria Davis attended the 2008 Citizen Corps Leadership Forum in Oklahoma City, OK from August 19 – 21.  It brought together representatives from every state to share best practices and common challenges.  Amanda was recognized as the youngest attendee and was given a large Citizen Corps umbrella that she was not able to bring home on the plane and had to ship it separately.  A hard fact of what we do and the times we live in.

Ohio is recognized as a best practice in the number of Councils and Medical Reserve Units that have been established.  Rusty and Gloria were chosen to be interviewed for a video being produced by National Citizen Corps promoting Citizen Corps. 

Future activities of CERT, Fire Corps, Neighborhood Watch, VIPS, and MRC were presented.  Of special interest were the discussion in breakout sessions related to targeted populations:  people with disabilities, diverse cultures and languages, low income, the elderly, youth and pet owners.    

Oklahoma City was specifically chosen as the site for this Citizen Corps Leadership Forum and participants were offered a private viewing of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.  The visit provided a sobering evening and renewal of why we are doing what we are doing.

Best wishes
for a wonderful 2009!
The Ohio Citizen Corps Team