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Aimed at helping educate local residents about disaster preparedness, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services awarded a $200,000 grant to the Latino Coalition of San Benito County at a Sept. 20 news conference at Tony Aguirre Park in Hollister.
Coalition President Mickle Luna said her organization would be partnering in the effort with “anything and anybody to do with emergencies in San Benito County,” including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and local fire and law enforcement agencies.
“In case of an emergency,” Luna said, “people don’t know who to call. People don’t know what to do. So, this is the part we’re going to play.”
Luna said that the coalition had applied for a grant with the Office of Emergency Services last year, which took longer than expected to be approved.
“We waited patiently,” Luna said, “because this would be actual assistance to all San Benito County residents, to help educate them on emergency services.”
Luna said the coalition will work to reach out to residents in all parts of the county.
“We are going to be holding different neighborhood sessions in every supervisorial district,” she said, “It is very important to us to cover all of the county, and we hope that people will come out and join us.”
County Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki said that he thought it was a “big deal” that the coalition was able to get the grant.
“That $200,000 is going to fill a gap,” he said, “that’s much needed in our community when it comes to emergency preparedness and making sure that we’re connecting with all of our residents.”
Kosmicki said that the grant is going to help ensure that “no matter who you are in this community, you’re going to have better opportunities to be knowledgeable on how to respond in a case of emergency.”
The coalition also provided educational materials to learn about disaster preparedness and held a raffle for two bags filled with emergency supplies such as a first aid kit, a hand-cranked radio, a document holder, a portable power source and an emergency preparedness guide.
Linda Lampe, founder of the Food Angels, attended the event at Luna’s invitation. No stranger to disaster relief, the Angels provide 150 bags of food to those in need every week, and Lampe credits the coalition with helping them locate and provide food to 1,100 families a week during the COVID pandemic.
“They are a tremendous asset,” she said, “They had already established that trust and that relationship with those families, so it helped us to reach the really underserved.”
The Hollister Fire Department was represented by Acting Battalion Chief Andrew Henderson, who said that the event offered a good opportunity to interact with the community.
“It is just part of being part of the service,” he said, “and doing something the community needs because we all live here, so a lot of us are community members as well.”
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