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This past summer, the Department of Public Health invited MRC Los Angeles members to apply for and, if accepted, participate as Ambassadors to represent the Department’s new campaign to encourage community prepardeness and resilience. Below is a testimonial by one of our members, Brenda Gascon – who was one of four MRC Los Angeles members who had the opportunity to be Ambassadors.
We are very proud of our members, especially when we are able to bridge our skilled members who are eager to be involved in the community with opportunities such as this one!
Through MRC Los Angeles, I recently had the privilege of going out into our community to use my skills gained through MRC Los Angeles to raise awareness of disaster preparedness.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s new campaign called ‘Connect, Prepare, Respond’ took to major culturally diverse events held throughout the summer months in Los Angeles County and distributed tens of thousands of informational brochures on how to prepare a typical household for an emergency. As ambassadors, our primary function was to gain the attention of local members in the community and draw attention to their need to safeguard the health and safety of their families during a disaster. With an emergency kit on display, we were able to demonstrate tools, communication devices, non-perishable food and water, and hygiene supplies which would serve to meet a family’s basic needs for 3 days without gas, power, or running water.
This opportunity gave me a chance to reach out to individuals and share my valuable knowledge of emergency response gained through MRC Los Angeles. I was pleased to find that the majority of the general public who we encountered were very interested in our outreach and had a positive attitude towards the suggestion of being prepared. Many had already done some preparation and were very receptive to our message.
This experience has reinforced my belief that we, as members of MRC, are valuable assets to our community because of our willingness to be proactive during calm times and willingness to assist during times of need.
~ Brenda Gascon, Active Member of MRC Los Angeles