• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 1 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Victor Maccharoli- The local Red Cross chapter is holding a fundraiser Tuesday night at Chili's in Goleta to raise money for trailers like this one stocked to supply a shelter for 100 people.

Cube Ad

Goleta raises disaster funds

By COLBY FRAZIER — June 30, 2009

After being pummeled by wild fires in recent years, many South Coast residents — along with the cities and towns they live — have taken a fresh look at emergency preparedness.

During the Tea and Jesusita fires, both of which prompted evacuations, locations in and around Goleta were ground zero for evacuees.

Aiding the speedy set up of American Red Cross evacuation shelters were two mobile trailers, stocked with 100 cots, blankets and first aid materials. The trailers, located on the north and south sides of Highway 101, which are ready to be pulled into action at any moment, were purchased by the city of Goleta, with the help of local businesses, in early 2008 as part of the city’s Partnership for Preparedness program.

Established in September 2007, the program is an effort between the city, the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Barbara County Chapter of the American Red Cross to promote emergency preparedness.

The next fundraising leg of the program begins today at Chili’s in the Camino Real Marketplace, where 15 percent of the proceeds from meals purchased between 4 and 10 p.m. will be donated to Partnership for Preparedness. Anyone interested in participating in this event must have a coupon, which can be found at www.cityofgoleta.org.

Goleta Mayor Roger Aceves said the money will help the city purchase more Red Cross emergency trailers and restock the trailers they already own.

“I encourage everyone to come out tomorrow night and help our city raise necessary funds to support this critical program,” he said.

Along with the trailers, the city and Chamber of Commerce has hosted, and plans to continue hosting, emergency preparedness workshops.

This September, which has been dubbed National Preparedness Month, Goleta will also begin a program called Goleta Prepare Now, which recently was given a nearly $200,000 grant from the Orfalea Foundations Aware and Prepare Campaign.

Kirsten Deshler, a city of Goleta spokesperson, said the grant will help pay for shopping bags imprinted with information about what residents need to stock in an emergency kit. She said the bags will be handed out at local grocery stores.

Additionally, Deshler said 2,000 people, identified through the county’s Department of Social Services as being below the poverty line, will be given free emergency preparedness backpacks.

Comment on this article

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

Disaster preparedness/recovery : 7/1/2009

Some thoughts on disaster preparedness/recovery: Are You Disaster Ready? What do you expect in case of loss? Who cares? Who has disaster preparedness/recovery money for that? I don't have all the answers, but I do have this one: A letter pertaining to disaster (hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, fire, etc.) has been sent to President Obama on behalf of all insurance policyholders. As a matter of transparency on the record of insurance consumer protection, any response by President Obama will be posted on the following Websites for review: http://www.disasterprepared.net/president.html and http://www.disasterprepared.net/whitehouse.html

antonebraga

---