Our Disaster Story
ManaTEENs first met Manatee County Emergency Management when we formed MERIT (ManaTEEN Emergency Response Initiative Team – better than our first idea…Disaster Initiative Response Team – “DIRT”) in 1998.
ManaTEENs organized to help the community deal with the MedFly issue, by walking block to block and disposing of the extra citrus fruits lying on the ground of our neighbors and senior citizens' yards. We had shirts made and everything!
Then, in 1998 we called MERIT up again to help a Volunteer Center in Kansas by hosting donation drives for socks and undergarments (so often people forget to send them in disaster situations). We didn't get too many donations…but we made QUITE the scene out on United Way's lawn, with underwear hanging from a makeshift clothesline and signs with slogans like “Drop Your Drawers, Here!” and “Twister Tighties.”
After our donation drives, we decided to get serious and encouraged as many ManaTEENs as possible to get Red Cross certified in anything they offered.
And then we offered to help at EOC ( Emergency Operations Center ) as runners, if needed. While we stayed up all night at the county a few times, we were not satisfied. Volunteer Florida (the state lead agency for ESF-15 – Volunteers and Donations) sent Merrilee White down to train us in disaster volunteer management.
Retired Army general Dick Haynes got involved and not only took us seriously, but got to work creating VRC ( Volunteer Reception Center ) procedures and setting up disaster simulations. Karen Windon ( Manatee County 's Public Safety manager who is awesome and a valuable member of our Board), Dick Haynes and Merrilee White are why we were ready for Charley in 2004. We had a pet shelter set up but the storm passed Manatee County . So, we didn't respond in Manatee County , but provided our newly acquired VRC management skills/drills to our neighbors in DeSoto County . We were there for 45 days, and processed about 8,000 volunteers.
Locally, since the hurricanes of 2004 youth volunteers in our community are engaged in disaster preparedness, mitigation and response at unprecedented levels. During the 2004 season, ManaTEENs worked at shelters, answered calls at United way 2-1-1 of Manasota, organized drives, and responded out in DeSoto county to process volunteers, work at distribution sites, deliver ice, and tarp roofs.
Outside of Florida , Calvin Briles (former ManaTEEN Vice President and current VISTA supervisor) and Mike Monaghan (former ManaTEEN President and 2 nd year AmeriCorps member) were dispatched through mutual aid agreements to open 3 VRCs in Mississippi after Katrina. After weeks of organization, they opened another 10 VRCS along the gulf.
We now teach CERT classes and have service-learning projects funded by FASS (SPaRC) and POLF (YRR) that let us do more Home Safety for Seniors projects, add search and rescue components to Reef Rakers, and more.
By acquiring skills and knowledge about Hometown Safety (which we like better than Homeland Security) in disasters, ManaTEENs continue to work with emergency management on a local and state level.