It was our LAFD Captain Weireter’s vision and passion toward this rewarding program that really lit the fire for our CERT team members to participate in this event. On our first visit, Captain Weireter saw the potential for a more fluid and safe operation as multiple vehicles and volunteers worked at a rapid pace to transfer lunches from the passenger vans to the Access Drivers delivering the meals. The Captain shared these best practices with Lourdes A. Sinibaldi, from the City of Los Angeles Department of Disability, who was spearheading the program, and she jumped on board to his ideas.
I was fortunate to be able to spend the first week scheduling and working alongside the Captain and other LAFD Firefighters as they perfected a traffic plan that moved the vehicles through in an efficient and safe manner. There were lanes made of fluorescent yellow cones and Fireline tape, makeshift signs designating lane one and lane two. We had pop-up tents to beat back the beating sun on volunteers who used movable ramps to lower huge stiff cardboard boxes, each containing three dozen hot meals. We had a starting gate where Access Vans lined up in three rows prior to operations, engines running and ready to go.
Our CERT Members used FRS radios as they manned and managed the white Access vans, ensuring that proper spacing of vehicles were followed. Other CERT Members lined up the boxed lunches in anticipation of the start of meal transfers.
Once the vans were given the green light, it became a fast-paced and fun operation; vans would arrive and give their meal count to the person(s) under the pop-up, and that person would rapidly count out the meals, placing them into the Access van, as the Access driver quickly organized the meals within the floor of the van. There was a sense of true team spirit. CERT Member John Gilbert eventually took over the scheduling of our CERT Team as they transitioned from 1000 meals to 3000 meals. A great success for a great cause.
The following CERT members participated:
Kevin Sprout
Andrew Grundig
Cleunice Schlickmann
Barry Watkins
May Braido
Vincent F.P. Ababao
John Gilbert
By Jacqueline Kozak, Batt. 5 LAFD CERT Coordinator
STATS…
3,000 meals a day are delivered to disabled people all around the City of Los Angeles.
4 lanes of traffic
A dozen food trucks
And about 120 Vans
Everyday, everything is setup at 11:00am and by 1:15pm, everything is gone as if no one had ever been there.
Well done LAFD CERT members!
