PSFRD Community Emergency Response Team - CERT

12/12/2018

Come one, come all, and bring an unwrapped toy (or, better yet, buy one in the Walsingham Commons Publix) to our 14th annual CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Toy Drive, this Saturday, December 15th from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

As always, John Barber and his staff will be hosting us at their renovated store. He has also secured a visit from Santa and elves in the store to help you get your toys.

All the toys donated will benefit children in the local area.

02/22/2018

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of PSFRD recently recognized Walsingham Commons Publix manager John Barber and his crew for their overwhelming support of the annual CERT toy drive.

For fourteen years Barber and his crews (first from the Indian Rocks Plaza location and now the Walsingham Commons store) have given outstanding support to the CERT volunteers and the community in their sponsoring of the annual drive.

“The best thing about this drive is that all the toys stay here in the local area," stated Marshall Eiss, CERT liaison for PSFRD.
Barber orders extra toys in from other stores to make sure they have a more than adequate supply of toys customers can purchase and donate to the drive.

“Our drives would not be as successful as they are without the “over the top” support of John and his crew, and we are very appreciative of that," stated Eiss.

02/09/2017

PSFRD's Community Emergency Response Team holds an annual toy drive for children in our service area and have partnered with two different area Publix stores for 12 years with great success.

We started our drive in 2004 with the Indian Rocks Store and John Barber. When John moved to the Walsingham store we moved with him. Fast forward to 2016 and the Walsingham store is under major renovation. Needless to say, we were a bit panic stricken, but when we went back to the Indian Rocks store, then store manager Dale Hood got the corporate approval to hold the drive but then moved to another store.

Enter Crystal Marlow and the crew at Publix Store #1471. With less than a week to the toy drive, they contacted the neighboring stores to increase their toy inventory. So, you can only imagine our surprise and joy when we arrived December 10th for the toy drive to find two extremely large decorated boxes of toys for customers to purchase and donate to our drive! This drive not only assisted our regular recipients of toys but also two other groups we made contact with who were in need of toys! Not only that, but they allowed us to leave the boxes up and when we returned the Tuesday after Christmas, the box was over half full again!

We just wish to congratulate Crystal and her crew for the outstanding effort and contribution in helping make the 2016 drive the most successful one yet!

We applaud Publix as a whole for being a community-minded corporation and look forward to working with our local stores for many years to come.

12/15/2016

The Pinellas Suncoast CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) wishes to thank the community and the Indian Rocks Publix for making their 12th annual toy drive a rousing success. The drive, which began in 2004 and benefits local children, has been continuously supported by Publix at both the Indian Rocks and Walsingham locations.

12/05/2016

PSFRD's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members were part of the annual Indian Rocks Holiday Parade yesterday, December 4th, which winds through most of the "fingers" of Indian Rocks Beach. During the parade, PSFRD also holds the annual "Can You Help" food drive which benefits the Beach Community Food Pantry of Calvary Episcopal Church and Lifeline Food Pantry at St. Jerome’s Church.

09/29/2016

09/29/2016

05/10/2016

CERT VOLUNTEER RECOGNIZED FOR OUSTANDING SERVICE
By Marshall Eiss, Life Safety Technician

To recognize the importance of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers at Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District (PSFRD), Fire Chief Sal D’Angelo organized the first annual CERT recognition dinner. The informal get-together featured baked ziti, salad, and all the trimmings, plus “dessert goodies” made by PSFRD Executive Assistant Ginger Lyle.

The highlight of the evening featured Volunteer Coordinator Skip Hurter receiving an award for outstanding service to the team. If you ask Skip what being a coordinator means, he’ll tell you that it means not asking anyone to do what he wouldn’t do. He has been the Pinellas Suncoast CERT Coordinator for over ten years, which means that he and wife Norma have been to nearly every public event Pinellas Suncoast has attended during that time. Only the wedding of one of his children (they have 5), a grandchild graduating (they have 12, plus spouses), or great grandchildren getting baptized (they have 3), have caused them not to be at an event.

At the CERT recognition dinner, Skip was surprised to receive an award for outstanding service, because to Skip, he was just “leading by example!”

Skip took the CERT Course, because although he felt that he had “been there done that” when it came to firefighting, having at one time been an Assistant Chief in Pottstown, PA, he still wanted to be involved in the fire department. When the notification went out for the CERT Coordinator position, Skip naturally volunteered. He also became a certified instructor of the Basic CERT Course, as well as a ham radio operator. Although Skip has now stepped down as Coordinator, he and Norma will be staying on the team as regular members.

05/10/2016

PSFRD CERT COLLECTS A TRUCK LOAD OF TOYS FOR LOCAL KIDS
By Marshall Eiss, Life Safety Technician

“FILL THE TRUCK” was the mantra of the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue District (PSFRD) Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) at their 11th annual toy drive at the Publix on Walsingham Road recently. Not only did they fill the truck, but they also collected $200 in cash donations. “We get a lot of toys for the younger kids but not as much for the older kids, so we use the cash received to buy gift cards for older kids,” stated Skip Hurter, coordinator for the team. “We appreciate Publix Manager, John Barber, and his staff for supporting the drive by making it an event, providing signage and announcements during the day about the toy drive in the store,” continued Hurter.

The toys and gift cards are taken to the Greater Ridgecrest Area Youth Development Initiative to be disbursed. The drive was started in 2004 in conjunction with the Indian Rocks Publix Car and Truck Show.