The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

CERT looks back on 2019 during dinner

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

CONVOY — The Van Wert County Emergency Response Team (CERT) held its annual dinner this week to honor those who have supported the group, as well as talk about results from the past year.

Van Wert County Emergency Management Director Rick McCoy (left) presents a plaque to CERT Chair Mark Klausing to recognize his efforts on behalf of the organization. photos provided

During the dinner, held at Gibby’s Backyard BBQ in Convoy, CERT Chair Mark Klausing talked about what the organization accomplished in 2019.

It was a busy year, with CERT providing assistance at 18 fires (fortunately no fatalities) and 11 accident sites during the year. CERT members provided assistance to families during 17 of the 18 fires, helping a total of 33 adults, 17 children, and 27 family pets.

CERT also provided refreshments to a total of 361 first responders during the year, with CERT members donating 438 volunteer hours at fire and accident scenes, and a total of 1,008 volunteer hours altogether, providing equipment maintenance, doing paperwork, and performing other needed tasks.

Klausing honored the 26 CERT members, including 18 new members who came on in 2019, for their service, while also thanking businesses and organizations that have provided monetary and other assistance to CERT during the year.

Donors included Walmart, which provides $150 gift certificates to fire victims to help provide clothing and other items to fire victims made homeless. Klausing said that was particularly helpful during a recent fire in the Middle Point area that left five people shivering in their underwear in freezing temperatures.

Pak-A-Sak was also recognized for donating coffee and other drinks and ice to CERT to hand out to first responders during the year.

Groups that provide financial donations include United Way of Van Wert County, United Way of Paulding County, Lifehouse Church, Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative, and the Venedocia and Convoy Lions Clubs. In fact, the Lions Clubs made another good-sized donation to CERT just after being recognized for past donations.

Klausing stressed that, although CERT now also serves Paulding County, all donations made in either county stay in that county.

“No money leaves Van Wert or Paulding counties,” he noted. “If you donate money to this team in Van Wert (or Paulding), the money stays in a bank account in that county.”

Donations from Paulding County United Way and PPEC provide operational money for Paulding County, he added.

Van Wert County CERT members also posed for a photo at the organization’s annual dinner.

In addition to the surprise donation from the Lions Clubs, Klausing also received another surprise when Van Wert County Emergency Management Director Rick McCoy presented him with a plaque for all he has done for the CERT organization.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Klausing said.

Local fire and law enforcement agencies were also recognized during the dinner.

Grover Hill Fire Chief Dave Volt was honored for assisting CERT during a fire in Oakwood in 2019, while Van Wert Fire Chief Jon Jones and the Van Wert Fire Department were recognized for providing free training to CERT members. The three local law enforcement agencies Van Wert Police Department, Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office, and the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, were also recognized for providing free traffic control training to CERT members.

McCoy talked about the yearly goals of the CERT organization, noting that the goal in 2018 was just to create and develop a community emergency response team. In 2019, the goal was to increase volunteer membership from the original eight members to allow the team to provide better service and avoid volunteer burnout. That goal was successful, with the addition of 18 new members during the year.

The 2020 goal is now to find a new home for the organization.

“CERT is now homeless,” Klausing said, noting that he had to give up the building in which CERT equipment was stored when he sold his property management business.

CERT does have a site, though, with Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas Riggenbach donating a portion of the parking lot behind the County Correctional Facility to CERT, but donations are now needed to construct a building on the site to provide housing, a maintenance shop, and charging stations for CERT’s equipment.

“We have the land, now we need four walls and a roof,” Klausing noted.

Anyone wanting to donate to CERT for its building project or to help with assistance to disaster victims can call the EMA office at 419.238.1300.

In closing, Klausing also thanked the spouses and other family members of CERT members, who often are wakened in the night when a disaster strikes. Also thanked were local media, which provide timely information needed when disaster victims need financial and other assistance.

POSTED: 02/05/20 at 9:07 am. FILED UNDER: News