Neighbours Helping Neighbours

My project was focused on informing residents of West Sechelt on Emergency Preparedness – both for their own households and in forming neighbourhood clusters to help each other – Neighbours Helping Neighbours  – (eg. who has: medical experience, disabilities, generators, chainsaws etc.). To gather the residents, an Emergency Preparedness “Picnic in the Park” was organized. To publicize the event: worked with the West Sechelt Community Association (WSCA) to send the event information out to their members; made posters & put them at all 26 West Sechelt mailbox sites; informed & invited the District of Sechelt Mayor and Councillors; and engaged the District of Sechelt Community Liaison for Public Safety to speak. To physically organize the event, the WSCA and various neighbours volunteered to set up a tent & umbrellas (it was really hot that day!!). Using the grant funds, nibbles for the event were provided (vegetables, fruit, cheese, crackers, cookies ….and bottled water to avoid dehydration.) Pamphlets, from BC Crown Printers, on all aspects of Emergency Preparedness, were made available to attendees. Upon arrival attendees were asked to put a pin on their home address on the big neighbourhood map and provide us with their phone and email address for follow-up. The purpose was to establish clusters and then bring those people together to work on their plan. The Community Liaison gave a presentation on preparing your household – pets as well – for  a 72 hour period. She outlined  how to put together a “Go Bag” and how to keep it up to date. In support of this important aspect of being prepared, attendees were given a raffle ticket (free) – the winner received a 72 hour Grab-N-Go Bag that had been donated by one of the Councillors. People then gathered into smaller groups (using the resident map) and discussions arose as to how these smaller groups would get together in the near future and formalize their plans. Over 60 residents attended with the Mayor and three Council members attending. All other Council members sent regrets as they were attending other events. The commitment and support of the District of Sechelt speaks to the importance of this project and its continuance. A thank you note was sent to all attendees, and an article submitted to the Coast Reporter. I have received many congratulatory comments and now other parts of the District are wanting to replicate the event. Yahoo – it was a success!!!!

Respecting the requirements of the project: the ancestral lands of Sechelt and the funding provided by NSG were noted at the beginning of the event and acknowledgement posters were placed at the food table; hand sanitizer and masks were made available. One thing that was difficult was to get permission from people for photos as they were preoccupied with the maps and picking up pamphlets. Therefore, am only including photos where you can’t distinguish the person.

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This is Thank You note I sent out as follow-up and providing next steps

Good Evening All;

Thank You to all of you for attending this (very warm) afternoon’s Emergency Preparedness Picnic in the Park. There were over 60 people in attendance! Let’s deem it a success👍