News Release from: Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue
TVF&R BATTALION CHIEF NOMINATED FOR GLOBAL EFFORTS
Posted: July 23rd, 2012 11:01 AM
TVF&R Battalion Chief Ian Yocum is a finalist for Volunteer of the Year in the Classy Awards, the largest philanthropic awards ceremony in the country, for his off-duty volunteer work with Medical Teams International after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Chief Yocum has volunteered for Medical Teams International for years and helped establish a strategic partnership between Medical Teams International and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.
The Classy Awards is the largest philanthropic awards ceremony in the country, celebrating the greatest charitable achievements by nonprofit organizations, socially conscious businesses, and individuals worldwide. Winners of the awards bring attention to their cause and allow non-profits like Medical Teams International to tell their story on a national stage.
Help shine a light on the spirit of volunteerism and selflessness in the Northwest by voting for Ian Yocum: www.stayclassy.org/stories/the-world-is-a-big-place-and-we-need-to-help-each-other-in-every-way-possible (Only three days left to cast votes!)
The Classy Awards website states:
BC Yocum led two teams to Japan in 2011 with the mission of implementing an Incident Command System (ICS) and training members of the disaster relief partner (CRASH Japan) in its use. ICS, endorsed by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is a standardized, on-scene, all-hazards incident management approach that is internationally accepted and used.
Based on the system that Yocum and his team members recommended and helped implement, Medical Teams International and CRASH Japan have been able to deploy more than 2,300 volunteers to date from their five base camps in Tono, Ichinoseki, Sendai, Nasu and Hitachi. These volunteers helped address physical needs by cleaning up and rebuilding houses, planting crops, distributing supplies, providing emotional support to those affected by trauma and caring for those not served by the formal relief response structure.
Including Japan, Yocum has been on 7 missions with Medical Teams International and has every plan to keep doing so. When asked why he keeps coming back, he quickly responds: "It allows me to marry my three passions: my profession, my desire to help people and my love of travel." "More importantly, it lets me teach my kids, Wyett (8) and Cooper (5), that the world is a big place... and we need to help each other in every way possible.'
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