Kathy Bryson will serve as the new coordinator for Early Response Teams.
PNW Disaster Response:
Kathy Bryson to serve as ERT coordinator
By Jim Truitt | Photo by Kathy Bryson
The recovery from the Washington Wildfires in 2014 and 2015 have occupied most of my volunteer time and I don’t see that changing much for at least the next two years. As a consequence, I believe I have not focused as much of my attention on the Early Response Team ministry as it deserves. So, it is with great pleasure and honor that I introduce Kathy Bryson as our new Early Response Team Coordinator for The Pacific Northwest Conference.
Kathy has been a trained ERT for almost as long as I have. She has been on several ERT deployments, was the team leader for one of the ERTs deployed to Minot, N.D., was the team leader for one of the VIM teams that went to Galena, Alaska after the Yukon River flooding, and has either participated in or led many VIM teams along the Gulf Coast. She has successfully completed the ERT “Train the Trainer” class and will teach her certification class this September. She and I will then teach more ERT Basic and Refresher classes over the next year.
Kathy is already at work. She is coordinating with her counterpart in Central Texas to see if we can respond to their call for help following the major floods they have experienced over the last two months. She’s also in contact with the Cal-Pac Conference’s Disaster Response Coordinator to determine if they need help responding to the Lake Isabella wildfire. You will hear more about both of these events in the very near future.
Kathy and her husband Dana are members of Kennewick First United Methodist Church in Washington. She can be reached at ert@pnwumc.org
I encourage you to support Kathy as much as or more than you have supported me over the years. With your support, the PNW Conference can do great things.
Blessings to all of you…now, let’s go help some people!
Jim Truitt serves as the co-coordinator for the PNW’s United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM).
