Do you consider yourself a volunteer? Would you like to be prepared to help those in need? An opportunity is available for you to do that. Stearns County Emergency Management and Benton County Emergency Management, along with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, are providing free Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. CERT training covers seven different areas of disaster preparedness and response so that you may be better prepared to assist yourself, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a natural or manmade disaster. There are currently about 200 volunteers who have completed the training and can be found in various cities throughout Stearns and Benton Counties. We are looking for additional residents in either Benton or Stearns County to complete the training so our communities can have volunteers trained and ready to respond in a time of need. CERT volunteers have recently participated in three simulation events. The first was a missing person drill in Albany June 23, another was a disaster simulation at the St. Cloud Airport June 28, and, most recently, the Benton County disaster simulation Aug. 17. CERT members played important roles in all three events. It was a great learning opportunity while providing assistance as volunteers. If you are interested in attending CERT training, enroll as a volunteer. For more information and to get started, call Erin or Bob at (320) 255-7295. The next CERT trainings will be in Sauk Rapids in September and in Waite Park in October.
