Florida Baptists’ disaster relief efforts recognized at Governor’s Conference

by Lauren Urtel / May 21, 2007

FORT LAUDERDALE—Florida Baptists’ Disaster Relief efforts received the Governor’s Distinguished Service Award during the 21 st annual Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference at the Broward County Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale May 16.

Lauding the efforts of more than 4,500 Florida Baptist volunteers, Fritz Wilson, director of the Florida Baptist Convention’s Disaster Relief and Recovery Department, accepted the award on the volunteers’ behalf.

Wilson requested the award be in recognition of the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers who “sacrifice their time and work tirelessly for those in need.”

The award was presented for “serving as a model of partnership and collaboration in meeting the needs of Floridians affected by disaster,” said Jim Wilson, director of Lee County Public Safety and moderator for the evening.

The annual award is presented to an individual or organization that has made cumulative outstanding contributions to some aspect of hurricane preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation or research in the State of Florida over a career or a significant period of time (at least five years). The scope of the contribution can be local, regional or statewide.

“This is the highest award given to an organization in recognition of its work in not just hurricane response but in disaster response,” said Wilson. “In many ways we were recognized by the disaster response community because the commission who chooses the recipient is made up of fellow workers from the state.”

Past winners include the NOAA National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center in Miami and the Lee County Visitor and Convention Center.

The award selection committee was comprised of county emergency managers, state emergency management officials and a representative from the governor’s Cabinet. 

This was the first time Florida Baptists had been nominated to receive this award. 

Even before Hurricane Season kicks off in June, the year has been a busy time for the state’s disaster relief. Early in 2007, Florida Baptist volunteers were dispatched to Oklahoma to help residents devastated by ice storms. Then, 220 Baptist volunteers were mobilized in response to the Feb. 2 Central Florida tornadoes, completing over 260 jobs in the areas of DeLand, Lady Lake and Lake Mack. Now, as Florida faces a severe drought and wildfires, disaster relief teams stand ready to help where they are needed.

The Florida Baptist Disaster Relief team is composed of two mobile feeding units, 51 debris removal and temporary repair units, two emergency childcare units, one command/communication unit, three generator trailer units, one mobile medical/dental unit, two water purification units and seven shower units.

Disaster relief provides assistance to victims and communities free of charge. Relief efforts are made possible through Florida Baptist Convention funds and donations from Florida Baptists. The Florida volunteer team is one of 39 Southern Baptist Convention response teams based in North America.

Over 4,000 disaster-related workers, representing 19 foreign countries, 29 states and 63 Florida counties were in attendance at the Governor’s Conference where new technology and strategies were taught in classrooms and presented in over 300 exhibits.

The annual conference was “filled with informative sessions, speakers and opportunities to learn more about how local, state and federal public/private and non-profit entities work together to best prepare for and respond to this type of natural disaster,” said Ann Rowe, media coordinator for the event.

Persons interested in participating in Florida Baptist state disaster relief in 2007 can attend a regional disaster relief training session offered statewide. Areas of applied training include feeding, clean-up and recovery, child care, water purification, spiritual care and emergency communications.

For more information on Florida Disaster Relief training or how to build a disaster relief unit, contact the Disaster Relief and Recovery Department at 800-226-8584, ext. 3121.