CITY OF BEAVERTON'S CERT PROGRAM CELEBRATES ONE THOUSANDTH MEMBER (PHOTO)
News Release from City of Beaverton
Posted on FlashAlert: October 14th, 2014 3:29 PM
On Oct. 18, the City of Beaverton's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) marks a milestone by commemorating its one thousandth member trained since the program started back in 2003.
"The CERT training program does an outstanding job providing volunteers with the skills and knowledge to help in the event of a city-wide emergency," said Mayor Denny Doyle. "It's inspiring that so many of our residents are willing to volunteer their time to help their neighbors."
Following the final exercise, the fall CERT class will take part in a graduation ceremony. Currently, the program boasts more than 400 members who remain actively involved or participate as a part of the CERT reserves.
CERT is about readiness and people helping people. The program focuses on rescuer safety as well as doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people (with available resources). During a disaster, it will take time for formal emergency services (i.e., police, fire, EMS) to reach all geographical areas of Beaverton. During that time, CERT members will have been mobilized to provide aid to residents.
The Beaverton CERT program offers free training sessions that give people the decision-making and physical skills to assist others in the event of an emergency. The city wants to continue to expand the number of members in the CERT program and is seeking more residents interested in participating. Those interested, can enroll for the spring session, which will begin in early March. Participants attend eight different classes once a week. Special arrangements for the basic CERT class can also be made for groups of 35 or more.
For more information on CERT, visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov.
In late August, the city filed ballot measure 34-226 with the Washington County Elections Office to authorize bonds to rebuild the Griffith Drive building into a public safety center. If passed, the measure would enable the city to issue $35 million in general obligation bonds to repurpose the former city offices into a center that would remain operational in the event of a natural disaster. The public safety center would also consolidate police and all emergency management functions into one building. To find out more about the plan, visit www.RenewforOurBlue.com.
Beaverton is a welcoming and responsible city that enjoys one of the most diverse populations in Oregon. In 2014, Beaverton was recognized as the safest city in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, the city's award-winning finance department received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award as well as the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. In 2012, the city was awarded the Mayors' Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It was named one of the 100 Best Places to Live in America by Money magazine and recognized as one of the best places to raise kids by BusinessWeek magazine. The city was named one of the top 25 Suburbs for Retirement by Forbes.com and one of the 100 Best Walking Cities in America by Prevention magazine. The city also received the Recycler of the Year award from the Association of Oregon Recyclers, named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, received a Bronze Award Bicycle Friendly Community design ation by the League of American Bicyclists, and recognized as one of the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Communities. Lastly, the city's nationally acclaimed visioning program was named Public Involvement Project of the Year--Best Planning Project by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Cascade Chapter and also received the prestigious 3CMA Award of Excellence.
For more information, reminders and community news, visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov. Also follow Beaverton on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CityofBeaverton, or Twitter at www.twitter.com/CityofBeaverton.
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"The CERT training program does an outstanding job providing volunteers with the skills and knowledge to help in the event of a city-wide emergency," said Mayor Denny Doyle. "It's inspiring that so many of our residents are willing to volunteer their time to help their neighbors."
Following the final exercise, the fall CERT class will take part in a graduation ceremony. Currently, the program boasts more than 400 members who remain actively involved or participate as a part of the CERT reserves.
CERT is about readiness and people helping people. The program focuses on rescuer safety as well as doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people (with available resources). During a disaster, it will take time for formal emergency services (i.e., police, fire, EMS) to reach all geographical areas of Beaverton. During that time, CERT members will have been mobilized to provide aid to residents.
The Beaverton CERT program offers free training sessions that give people the decision-making and physical skills to assist others in the event of an emergency. The city wants to continue to expand the number of members in the CERT program and is seeking more residents interested in participating. Those interested, can enroll for the spring session, which will begin in early March. Participants attend eight different classes once a week. Special arrangements for the basic CERT class can also be made for groups of 35 or more.
For more information on CERT, visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov.
In late August, the city filed ballot measure 34-226 with the Washington County Elections Office to authorize bonds to rebuild the Griffith Drive building into a public safety center. If passed, the measure would enable the city to issue $35 million in general obligation bonds to repurpose the former city offices into a center that would remain operational in the event of a natural disaster. The public safety center would also consolidate police and all emergency management functions into one building. To find out more about the plan, visit www.RenewforOurBlue.com.
Beaverton is a welcoming and responsible city that enjoys one of the most diverse populations in Oregon. In 2014, Beaverton was recognized as the safest city in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, the city's award-winning finance department received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award as well as the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. In 2012, the city was awarded the Mayors' Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It was named one of the 100 Best Places to Live in America by Money magazine and recognized as one of the best places to raise kids by BusinessWeek magazine. The city was named one of the top 25 Suburbs for Retirement by Forbes.com and one of the 100 Best Walking Cities in America by Prevention magazine. The city also received the Recycler of the Year award from the Association of Oregon Recyclers, named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, received a Bronze Award Bicycle Friendly Community design ation by the League of American Bicyclists, and recognized as one of the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Communities. Lastly, the city's nationally acclaimed visioning program was named Public Involvement Project of the Year--Best Planning Project by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Cascade Chapter and also received the prestigious 3CMA Award of Excellence.
For more information, reminders and community news, visit www.BeavertonOregon.gov. Also follow Beaverton on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CityofBeaverton, or Twitter at www.twitter.com/CityofBeaverton.
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