Up & Coming Weekly

December 18, 2018

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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DECEMBER 19-25, 2018 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Hope Mills News & Views The Hope Mills Community Emergency Response Team is looking to expand its membership into an untapped area of candidates: teenagers. CERT is a volunteer organization that works under the oversight of the Cumberland County Emergency Management department. Melode Dickerson, manager of Hope Mills CERT, said the organization's work falls into sev- eral different categories. Its primary role is in disaster relief following major events like the recent hurricanes. "When the hurricane came, we first went out and helped the Red Cross,'' she said. "We had people working in shelters, closing down shel- ters, doing damage assessments. We had over 300 hours with the Red Cross.'' When there are no disasters, CERT members are out in the community at a variety of events, including helping with parades, traffic control and other charitable activities. "We try to keep every- body busy so they don't lose interest,'' she said. "We go out and help in the community.'' There are about 30 adults currently volunteering with the Hope Mills CERT team, Dickerson said. It was before and after the hurricane that Dickerson began hearing questions about wheth- er or not teenagers could be CERT volunteers. That was when she decided to explore starting a separate group of teenage volunteers to work in conjunction with the adult CERT members. The plan initially is to have the teenagers oper- ate apart from the adult CERT volunteers, with an eventual goal of possibly working out a change in the bylaws to add the younger members to the adult group. Dickerson tentatively plans to limit the age range of the teenagers allowed to volunteer to sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school. The CERT training includes instruction in how to stop bleeding in emergency situations. Dickerson sees that as valuable to students who could find themselves in a life-saving situation at school someday. "If they don't learn anything else, they'll be able to save somebody if they need to,'' Dickerson said. Official recruiting for the teen CERT program will begin in January. Those who are interested can contact the Hope Mills CERT by emailing hopemillscert@gmail.com. The Hope Mills Community Emergency Response Team page on Facebook also has a link to a Teen CERT brochure from the Federal Emergency Management Association. The new members of the Mayor's Youth Leadership Committee for the town of Hope Mills were recently introduced to the town's Board of Commissioners. The new chair of the group is Ashilyn Burgos, a senior at Gray's Creek High School. Melissa Chuy of Jack Britt High School is vice- chair, and William Pryor of South View serves as secretary. Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner said the pur- pose of the youth committee is to get the mem- bers involved in town government and leadership so they can understand the roles of elected offi- cials and things taking place in Hope Mills. Organizers of the committee also try to involve members in a specific town project. Last year the committee worked on two surveys, one for the town's multi-modal project and one for the Parks and Recreation department. This year the group will focus on the town's his- torical district and properties, with a goal of learn- ing as much as they can about the town's histori- cal homes and buildings and reporting back to the commissioners with their findings. When possible, the youth committee members are also encouraged to attend the Hope Mills Citizens Academy for more detailed understand- ing of how local government works. Burgos said she is also active with the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Youth Council, so the work done by the Hope Mills youth com- mittee relates to what she's already doing there. She said she's been involved with activities like the Hope Mills youth committee since she entered high school. "It's the kind of career field I want to go into,'' she said. She is looking forward to learning more about the history of Hope Mills in her role with the youth committee because it's something she hasn't explored. She thinks it's important for people to under- stand and be aware of the history of the commu- nity where they live. "It makes it more interesting if you know the backstory,'' she said. "I think this involvement will definitely give me a good foot- ing into what government has to offer and what it involves.'' Following are the other members of the new Hope Mills Youth Leadership Committee: Jack Britt High School — Kiara Ramos, Ethan Finney. Gray's Creek High School — Emily Gonzales, Kayla Mady. South View High School — Nautia Carter, Morgan Evans. EVENTS Hope Mills CERT to recruit teen volunteers by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Youth council learns workings of Hope Mills government by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Melode Dickerson, manager of Hope Mills CERT Ashilyn Burgos is this year's chair of the Hope Mills Mayor's Youth Leadership Committee.

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