By Wendy Riddle | Photos by Dave Riddle
On Saturday, January 20, 2018, over 50 people from 15 congregations and 5 different denominations gathered at Bremerton United Methodist Church for Connecting Neighbors emergency preparedness training.
Led by Becky Platt of The Oregon-Idaho Conference and Wendy Riddle of The Pacific Northwest Conference, attendees completed several modules (Overview, Ready Families, Ready Churches and Ready Response) to help serve neighbors during a time of a natural disaster.
“The vast majority of feedback was positive,” shares Riddle. “The class took almost nine hours…the table groups mostly worked well together.”
Along with sharing rich information, the goal of this training was to inspire “congregations and communities to be better able to minimize disaster-caused harm to people and property.”
A soup lunch was provided with the Rev. John Weston providing fresh bread with the gracious hosts of Bremerton’s United Methodist Women providing sandwiches, desserts and beverages.
If you would like to also help in finding “cooperative and caring ways” to connect with neighbors during times of disaster, contact Wendy Riddle for more information.
Special thanks to UMCOR, the American Red Cross, National Disaster Interfaith Network, and FEMA.
Wendy Riddle serves as a member of PNW’s United Methodist Volunteers in Mission.
