Other Weeks & Seasons:
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Besides working diligently to issue the most accurate forecasts and warnings possible, our service extends well beyond the bricks and mortar in which we work. During the week of September 29th through October 5th, our staffs are making a concerted effort to reach out in our communities to help those in need. All of these activities will occur outside of our normal work hours and on our own time.
Many NWS entities and partners participated in the 3rd Annual National Weather Service (NWS) Week of Service:
1,244 employees and 81 family members helped 123 different organizations during the week.
Like the past 2 years, the most popular activity was holding food or supply drives.
22 offices helped out at their local food bank. These offices sorted over 13 tons of food (26,174 lbs) and prepared 23,669 meals.
Another 17 offices helped clean up their environment. Nearly a ton of trash was picked along roadsides, rivers, and lakes. In addition, the Detroit office collected seeds to help restore a rare prairie and the Grand Rapids office worked with the DNR on removing evasive species at the Saugatuck Dunes State Park.
The partial Federal Government shutdown really hurt some of the offices turnout this year. In several offices, people had planned to take their own leave to participate, but this leave was cancelled during the shutdown. In another case, the NWS partner offices were closed and this greatly affected the amount of food that they could collect during the week. After the shutdown was over, several offices rescheduled their activities for late October and November
A list of the offices that participated along with an office by office summary can be found below. If we missed your office's activity during this week, send an e-mail to Jeff Boyne.
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National Centers
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Regional Headquarters
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Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs)
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Aviation Centers (AWUs/CWSUs)
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River Forecast Centers (RFCs)
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Other Partners
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Below are some of the activities which were done across the United States and its territories during this week:
| Aberdeen, SD WFO:[top] | Salvation Army Food Bank |
| WFO Aberdeen SD held a food drive for our local Salvation Army food bank during the week of service. They collected 117.5 pounds of food! |
| Albany, NY WFO:[top] | Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York "BackPack Program" |
| WFO Albany NY gathered food donations to help the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York "BackPack Program". The "BackPack Program" helps alleviate child hunger by discreetly providing hungry children with backpacks full of nutritious and easy-to-prepare food on Friday afternoons so they have food to eat throughout the weekend. The program serves more than 900 students at 36 schools in 12 counties. |  |
| Amarillo, TX WFO:[top] | American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) |
| Three NWS employees volunteered at the Amarillo ASPCA during the afternoon Tuesday, October 1st. The ASPCA immediately put the volunteers to work on repairing a book shelf then after a while they walked, played with, and held many of the dogs that are up for adoption at the center. Time was also spent playing with and interacting with the many cats in the shelter. |  |
| Anchorage, AK WFO), Alaska Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU), Alaska Central Weather Service Unit (CWSU), and Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center (RFC):[top] | Anchorage Downtown Soup Kitchen Supporting Deployed Troops Cleaning Trash along Roadside |
| The National Weather Service in Anchorage, AK volunteered at the Anchorage Downtown Soup Kitchen on Thursday, October 3rd. Staff and family members from both the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) and the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU) helped chop vegetables and served lunch (soup and sandwiches) to about 200 people. This was a slow day by the soup kitchen's standards; they say there can be up to 600 people served on a busy day!
The Anchorage Downtown Soup Kitchen *Serves more than 350 cups of soup daily
Also during the week, staffs from both the Weather Forecast Office and the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit packed 15 care packages for local military members who are currently deployed overseas. The care packages were filled with some comforts of home as well as some Alaska memories. Finally on Saturday, October 5th, the staff and family members from the Weather Forecast Office, the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit, and the Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) helped to pick up the garbage along Sand Lake Rd where the WFO and AAWU are located. During their 20 man hours, they picked up 6 full bags of garbage. |
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| Austin/San Antonio, TX WFO:[top] | Adopt-a-Highway, New Braunfels High School Band, San Antonio Scorpions, Pet Partners, & Feds Feed Families Food Drive |
| The Austin/San Antonio WFO really got into the spirit of NWS Week of Service by participating in several volunteer activities. On October 3rd, 5 staff members participated in a quarterly Adopt-A-Highway trash collection activity. They had a TxDOT assigned two mile stretch of road near the office. Seven bags of trash were collected.
Also during the Week of Service, one staff member and their spouse volunteered with the New Braunfels High School band. Their volunteer efforts included working at 2 football games, 2 band competition performances, and traffic control. Another staff member volunteered at a San Antonio Scorpions soccer game where they handed out game schedules, scorecards, and promotional items to patrons entering and exiting the facility. Another NWS staff member and their registered Pet Partners therapy dog visited residents at a Alzheimer's care facility in New Braunfels. This program allows residents to visit with a gentle dog creating a warm and affectionate animal-human connection. The volunteer spirit at WFO EWX was in full swing even before the Week of Service as they participated in the 5th annual federal-wide 2013 Feds Feed Families Food Drive which runs from June 1 to August 31st. A total of $455 was donated by the staff, equating to 4,550 pounds of food. The total food contribution amount from the office was 4,619 pounds! |
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| Billings, MT WFO:[top] | Saturday Live |
| On Saturday September 28th, 4 individuals (Tom Frieders, Keith Meier and Marc Singer from WFO Billings, MT and Amy Campbell from WFO Glasgow, MT) volunteered for the Billings School District 2 "Saturday Live" event. The event is the largest yearly fundraiser for School District 2, and it attended by thousands of people in our community. Tom's son attends this school. The NWS volunteers assisted event organizers in collecting trash and recycled materials for the entire afternoon, and provided clean-up support after the event was over. They also provided support to individual school booths by helping transport supplies and personnel around the event. This is the third year in a row that WFO Billings has volunteered for this event, and we plan on making it a yearly tradition. |
| Binghamton, NY WFO:[top] | Food Drive for CHOW (Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse) |
| WFO Binghamton participated in the Week of Service by having a food drive for CHOW (Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse). Together they collected 133 pounds of food which provided 111 meals! |  |
| Bismarck, ND WFO:[top] | Haiti Solar Ovens | |
| On October 1, WFO Bismarck staff manufactured solar ovens to send to Haiti. More information about this project is linked here: https://www.haitisolarovens.org/ |  |
| Blacksburg, VA WFO:[top] | Food Drive for the Blacksburg Food Pantry |
| WFO Blacksburg VA (RNK) held a food drive to support the Blacksburg Food Pantry. Two bags of food were donated and dropped off at the local pantry. |
| Boise, ID WFO:[top] | Idaho Transportation Department’s Adopt a Highway program |
| WFO Boise office adopted a two mile stretch of highway as part of the Idaho Transportation Department’s Adopt a Highway program several years ago. Boise Forecaster, Coleen Decker, selected a scenic stretch of Idaho State Highway 21 which sees a heavy traffic load of wildland fire fighters each summer. For the 7th year in a row, the forecast office served the community by picking up trash along the road and helped keep Idaho beautiful. This year on October 12, NWS employees and their families enjoyed fall foliage while collecting 6 large bags of trash. |
| Boston/Taunton, MA WFO & Northeast River Forecast Center (RFC):[top] | Food Drive |
| The Taunton WFO & RFC worked with the New York office (OKX) to hold a competition between the two offices to see who could collect the most food. The Taunton employees brought in food beginning Sept. 5th until Oct 7th and in total the Boston WFO/RFC collected 405 lbs of food which worked out to 9.9 lbs/person in the office. The New York WFO collected 142 lbs of food which worked out to 5.3 lbs/person. As the winners of the local competition, the Boston office won bragging rights and the New York office plans to bake a cake and write something on it congratulating the Boston office! Both offices hope to continue the friendly rivalry in future years |  |
| Brownsville, TX WFO:[top] | Good Settlement House & Binational Beach Clean Up |
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Serving Meals to the Homeless and the Hungry Meteorologists-in-Charge Steve Drillette, Electronic System Analyst Paul Schaafsma, Senior Forecaster Geoffrey Bogorad and Mike Castillo, and Forecasters Maria Torres and Blair Scholl cooked and served a large meal to 110 people at theGood Neighbor Settlement House in Brownsville. This organization helps people to better themselves with different classes during the week; they provide clothing, and cook breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. We prepared and served spaghetti with meat sauce and salad with cucumbers and provided one bottle of water to each person. Among those served included the homeless, the elderly and families with month old babies to teenage children. There was enough food for many to have seconds, and some were able to have a third plate. Two people asked if we could fill up large styrofoam cups with more food for later. “Everyone was very thankful for their meal; some even said that was their best meal they ate in a long time!” Mrs. Torres said. “We had a great team in the kitchen and dining room. We left with a greater appreciation for everything we have.” Picking Up The Trash Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Barry Goldsmith (lower right picture) participated in the 3rd Bi-National Beach Clean Up from South Padre Island Texas, to Miramar Beach and Bagdad Beach in Tamaulipas, Mexico. The cleanup, which designated several locations on both sides of the border, including Isla Blanca Park and Boca Chica Beach stateside, and Playa Bagdad (Matamoros) and Playa Miramar (Tampico) in Mexico, brought children of all ages to the beach, armed with trash bags and trash “grabbers”. Goldsmith covered Isla Blanca Park. Litter was few and far between, and only about half a standard lawn bag was filled. Organizers suspected tidal run-up from distant Tropical Storm Karen may have swept some of the litter into the Gulf during the overnight hours prior to the clean-up. “South Padre Island is proud to be one of the cleanest beaches in Texas,” Goldsmith said. “Our office participates in several litter removal activities each year to help keep it that way!”
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| Bulington, VT WFO:[top] | Vermont Food Bank, Rebuilding Together Greater Burlington, & |
| A local supermarket was closing to move to a new location. The Vermont Food Bank coordinated with volunteers to pack several hundred pounds of food to be moved and distributed by the food bank. Volunteers spent approximately two hours packing produce, dairy and other various items throughout the supermarket.
Greg Hanson, Service Hydrologist at the Burlington WFO, and 2 family members worked with a group of students from a nearby college to do yard cleanup, painting, and gardening for an elderly couple in town. The organization is Rebuilding Together Greater Burlington, a local affiliate of Rebuilding Together. The organization is dedicated to building communities by helping homeowners live in safety, warmth, and independence. They also held a food drive. They donated over 2 dozen items weighing over 50 lbs to the Chittenden County Emergency Food Shelf in Burlington, VT.
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| Caribou, ME WFO:[top] | Food Drive for Sister Mary O'Donnell Shelter |
| WFO Caribou dropped off 175 lbs of food and household goods that they collected for the Sister Mary O'Donnell Shelter in Presque Isle, ME. Sister Mary O'Donnell Shelter in Presque Isle is the only emergency homeless shelter in Aroostook County, Maine, geographically the largest County east of the Mississippi. They provide 30 beds for individuals and families in crisis, serving a population count of around 72,000 from the 2010 census. They continually need food, personal hygiene items, household cleaning goods, etc. It's been a gratifying experience for this office to give back to our community and to participate in the 3rd Annual Week of Service. | |
| Central Illinois (Lincoln, IL) WFO:[top] | Food Drive for the Central Illinois Food Bank |
| In response to the NWS National Week of Community Service, the Central Illinois WFO decided to do a local food drive. The ILX staff pitched in, bringing in donations that slowly overtook the break room! And although slightly delayed by the government shutdown, the food drive resulted in over 168 pounds of non-perishable food donated to the Central Illinois Food Bank in Lincoln. The Central Illinois Foodbank, established in 1982, distributes over 9.5 million pounds of food annually to over 150 food pantries, soup kitchens, residential programs and after-school programs in a 21 county region. |  |
| Central Region Headquarters, NWS Training Center, & Aviation Weather Center:[top] | Community Blood Center & Mid American Boston Terrier Rescue |
| During late September, 15 employees from AWC, NWSTC, and CRH participated in a blood drive help at the NWSTC building. The Community Blood Center collected several units of blood to distribute to local hospitals. From September 29th through October 5th, NWSTC & CRH set up a donation box to collect supplies for the Mid-American Boston Terrier Rescue (MABTR) during the Week of Service. Blankets, toys, food, and harnesses were collected and delivered to MABTR to be used for rescued dogs! MidAmerica Boston Terrier Rescue (MABTR) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that operates strictly on donations. All donations (monetary or items) are tax-deductible. MABTR is 100% volunteer-driven. Donations go directly towards rescuing, rehabilitating, and re-homing Bostons in need. In 2012, MABTR took in 307 Bostons and Boston-mixes. Since 2006, more than 2,000 Bostons have been saved. MABTR takes in Bostons and Boston-mixes from shelters, puppy mills, breeders and owner surrenders. They have an extensive transportation network to move dogs to temporary foster homes, then on to permanent homes. The entire network is run using volunteers. |
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| Charleston, SC WFO:[top] | Beach/River Sweep & Volunteered at their Local Food Bank |
| Members of the Charleston, SC WFO staff picked up trash along the beach at the Beach/River Sweep. They also went to the local food bank to help sort and box foods which were sent to families in need. |  |
| Charleston, WV WFO:[top] | Food and Clothing Drive | |
| WFO Charleston, WV collected food and clothing donations for a local pantry. |
| Chicago, IL WFO:[top] | Food Drive |
| On September 21st, NWS Chicago held a food drive with their open house. They had over 800 people attend and collected 1,500 lbs of food.
On Halloween, they conducted their annual trick-or-treating for canned goods. |
| Cleveland, OH WFO:[top] | Cleveland Food Bank |
| On Wednesday September 25th, WFO Cleveland, OH held a potluck to kick off both their CFC Campaign and NWS Week of Service activities. All were encouraged to bring a dish to share along with a canned or boxed food item, or small donation for the Cleveland Food Bank. The office collected 60 lbs of food and $77 (through CFC). Given that the Food Bank is able to use our donation to purchase food at discounted rates, the $77 dollars will provide 308 nutritious meals to people in need. |  |
| Columbia, SC WFO:[top] | Harvest Hope Food Bank |
| The Columbia, SC staff collected over 60 pounds of food donations to give to the Harvest Hope Food Bank. |  |
| Denver/Boulder, CO WFO:[top] | City of Boulder, Boulder Disaster Recovery Center, Food Drive, & Local Library |
The recent record-breaking floods of September gave WFO Denver/Boulder plenty of opportunities to help the community.
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| Des Moines, IA WFO:[top] | Salvation Army |
| NWS Des Moines participated in the 2013 NWS Week of Service by preparing, baking and freezing several pans of egg casserole. The casserole is used by the local Salvation Army for their homeless hot breakfast program. The Salvation Army's emergency disaster services mobile canteen drives a route through the inner city of Des Moines to serve nearly 1,000 men, women and children a hot breakfast on Tuesdays and Fridays. In addition to the casserole donation, the NWS Des Moines held a food drive for local food pantries in conjunction with our Public Open House. Several open house attendees brought donations of canned and dry goods in support of the fundraiser. A near entire car load of food was donated to the local Salvation Army food pantry. |  |
| Detroit/Pontiac, MI WFO:[top] | Volunteer Stewardship Workday & Food Drive |
| On September 29th, WFO DTX Meteorologist Interns Matt Mosteiko, Rachel Kulik, and Dan Thompson, along with Warning Coordination Meteorologist Rich Pollman, participated in a Volunteer Stewardship Workday with the Michigan DNR at Algonac State Park. The event was also part of National Public Lands Day. The crew collected seeds in a lakeplain prairie, a globally imperiled ecosystem whose area has shrunk to 1% of its original extent in Michigan. The crew enjoyed nature, fresh air, and a few slices of pizza afterward. Their efforts will help to preserve and re-establish lakeplain prairie in Michigan.
In addition, they held a very successful food drive. They collected a barrel full of food. This drive was concluded on October 14th and the food was delivered on October 16th. |
On September 29, WFO DTX Meteorologist Interns Matt Mosteiko, Rachel Kulik, and Dan Thompson, along with Warning Coordination Meteorologist Rich Pollman, collected seeds in a lakeplain prairie at Algonac State Park.
The staff also collected a barrel and 2 boxes of food. |
| Eastern Region Headquarters (ERH):[top] | Forgotten Friends of Long Island (FFLI) |
| Employees at Eastern Region Headquarters collected 64 pounds of pet food for the not-for-profit organization Forgotten Friends of Long Island (FFLI), a pet rescue and shelter group. ERH's EEO Manager Cheryl Latif presented this food to them and participated at their 5th Annual Dog Walk and Fair at Forest City Community Park in Wantagh, NY. | 
Cheryl Latif's (ERH's EEO Manager) son Ramy Latif and daughter Emily Latif (volunteering as a mascot character for FFLI) greeting a rescued dog. |
| Eureka, CA WFO:[top] | State Parks Restoration Day at Patrick's Point State Park |
| On November 9th, several members of the Eureka staff participated in State Parks Restoration Day at Patrick's Point State Park. There was a very limited turn out from NWS Eureka for this service, but we did have a presence. The service was to support the eradication of invasive vegetation. They aream hoping to make this at least a quarterly opportunity to the staff so we can continually have our presence felt by the community while providing the chance for our team to get involved. |
| Flagstaff, AZ WFO:[top] | Food Drive for Norther Arizona Food Bank & Arizona D.O.T. |
| The Flagstaff NWS participated in a friendly food drive competition started by a few of the Midwest offices in support of the NWS Week of Service. Throughout the week we collected a total of 294 items, totaling 194 pounds of food, that was donated to the Northern Arizona Food Bank here in Flagstaff! Thanks to our friends in the Midwest for encouraging other offices to participate. What a great way to help out during this week of service. We’re hoping we can get more Western Region offices involved next year! Also in the spirit of service, we’ll be supporting ADOT by participating in our annual highway clean-up! |  |
| Gaylord, MI WFO:[top] | Food Drive |
| Our local Leadership Enrichment program and team leader, Tim Locker, initiated an office-wide food drive two weeks prior to the NWS Week of Service. We subsequently took several large boxes of food to the local food bank here in Gaylord on the Monday following the Week of Service. |
| Glasgow, MT WFO:[top] | Saturday Live |
| On Saturday September 28th, 4 individuals (Tom Frieders, Keith Meier and Marc Singer from WFO Billings, MT and Amy Campbell from WFO Glasgow, MT) volunteered for the Billings School District 2 "Saturday Live" event. The event is the largest yearly fundraiser for School District 2, and it attended by thousands of people in our community. Tom's son attends this school. The NWS volunteers assisted event organizers in collecting trash and recycled materials for the entire afternoon, and provided clean-up support after the event was over. They also provided support to individual school booths by helping transport supplies and personnel around the event. This is the third year in a row that WFO Billings has volunteered for this event, and we plan on making it a yearly tradition. |
| Goodland, KS WFO:[top] | Goodland Animal Shelter |
| Staff members from the NWS office in Goodland, Kansas, spent an afternoon at the Goodland Animal Shelter on October 3, 2013. After interacting with the cats and dogs, staff members spent several hours cleaning around the animal pens, weeding, and moving exterior dog houses. |  |
| Grand Junction, CO WFO:[top] | Adopt-A-Lake cleanup |
| On Saturday, September 21, 2013, seven employees from the National Weather Service office in Grand Junction, Colorado and their families headed up to the Grand Mesa to participate in the bi-annual Adopt-A-Lake cleanup, which is sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service. The Adopt-A-Lake program was established to help keep our lakes clean and preserve the natural beauty of the landscape.
The Grand Mesa is home to many recreational activities such as hiking, biking, camping, fishing, and skiing. The Adopt-A-Lake cleanup is a great way for us to provide a service to our community by cleaning up three of the 300 plus lakes on the Grand Mesa, just before the mountain snowpack starts building. We split the group into two (one at Kitson Reservoir and the other at Twin Lake 1) and then met up to finish Twin Lake 2. Given the participation of 16 people, we were able to scour the perimeters of all three lakes and collect an assortment of trash, including a muffler, using 10 trash bags provided by the US Forest Service. It was a beautiful fall day with temperatures in the 50s and sunny skies at an elevation just over 10,000 feet above sea level, where some of the aspen trees displayed their golden colors. This act of service is one of the many ways for us to reach out to our community and make our presence known outside the office. |
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| Grand Rapids, MI WFO: [top] | Removing Invasive Species |
| NWS Grand Rapids is working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to improve local state parks and natural areas. We kicked this effort off on Sunday, September 22nd by helping remove invasive species from Saugatuck Dunes State Park. | 
Meteorologist Evan Webb removing Black Locust at the park, along Lake Michigan. |
| Great Falls, MT WFO:[top] | Food Drive for FISH |
| One of our lead forecasters, John Blank, was the driving force behind our efforts for NWS Week of Service. He came up with the idea to have a friendly competition among staff members to see who would donate the greatest weight of food which was then donated to a local food pantry. It was the journeys/leads versus everyone else in the office (met interns/HMT/ET staff/admin). The journeys/leads won with a just a few pounds more than the remainder of the office. Our total donation was 284 lbs. This food was donated to an organization called "FISH" which is involved in feeding people in the Great Falls area. |  |
| Green Bay, WI WFO:[top] | Pet Food Drive |
| NWS Green Bay, WI held a pet food drive for a local no-kill shelter. |
| Hanford/San Joaquin Valley, CA WFO:[top] | Cleaning-up our road sides |
| NWS weather forecast office in Hanford, California recently cleaned up the city street next to our office for our week of service activity. We have also submitted paperwork to adopt a 2 mile stretch of California highway 198 near Hanford for clean up days throughout the year! Thanks to everyone at the Hanford office that helped to make the street cleanup a success! We also had an office pot luck luncheon after the clean up with old southern bean salad, sweet home chicago mac salad, ohio valley hot dogs, generic bean salad, and Arizona style sweet bread! |  |
| Hastings, NE WFO:[top] | Kids Against Hunger | |
| WFO Hastings, NE volunteered with Kids Against Hunger again this year. They had 12 members from the office and two spouses help out. They packaged 7500 meals (this was an office record - they have volunteering there for 3 years) and they donated $25 directly Kids Against Hunger which will purchase 100 meals for future distribution. |  |
| Indianapolis, IN WFO:[top] | Food Drive |
| NWS Indianapolis, IN held a food drive for a local food bank. |
| Jackson, KY WFO:[top] | Coat Drive, Food Drive, & Trash Pickup |
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WFO Jackson KY did the following during the NWS Week of Service:
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| Juneau, AK WFO:[top] | Providing a Meal at Homeless Shelter & Suppy Drive for an Animal Shelter |
| A little less than half of the employees and family members of WFO Juneau cooked and provided a meal at the local homeless shelter on Tuesday, October 1. Some provided baked goods for the dessert portion of the meal, while others helped prep and serve the meal. The office also collected items for the local animal shelter. |  |
| Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO WFO and the Missouri Basin RFC: [top] | Tucker Renewal Center |
| On October 1st, WFO Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO and the Missouri Basin RFC volunteered at the Tucker Renewal Center. The group helped with demolition of a 100 year old hotel that will be renovated into a food pantry and temporary housing for underprivileged citizens in Pleasant Hill.
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| Key West, FL WFO:[top] | Food Drive for the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition Food Pantry |
| The National Weather Service in Key West, Florida donated approximately 40 lbs of food to the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition food pantry during the Week of Service. |  |
| La Crosse, WI WFO:[top] | School Supply Drive, La Crosse Area Family YMCA Maple Leaf Half Marathon, Gunderson Health System, Mayo Health System-Franciscan Healthcare, New Horizons Shelter & Women's Center, Food Drive, WAFER, & Gravedigger Burger Challenge |
| From July 30th through September 10th, NWS La Crosse, WI conducted their 4th Annual school supply drive. Their staff brought in around $1,000 worth of school supplies during this drive. There were enough supplies donated that they were able to donate supplies to 7 different schools (3 elementary and 4 middle/high) in southeast Minnesota and western, WI. They were the following:
1. Adams-Friendship High - Adams, WI (Adams County) During the past 4 years, they have donated supplies to 17 different schools in their 28 county forecast area. On Saturday, September 28th, one member of the NWS La Crosse staff (Zack Taylor - meteorologist intern) and a spouse (Carla Swerman) of a forecaster ran in the 2013 La Crosse Area Family YMCA Maple Leaf Half Marathon. Both Carla and Zack did very well in the race. The theme of this year's race was "run forward, give back" which fits well with NWS Week of Service. The proceeds raised during this event help support the Y's Strong Kids Campaign, which gives everyone the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive by providing financial assistance for membership and programs at the Y. Over $350,000 were raised from the race. This is their biggest fund raiser of the year. Also for this week, one of our forecasters knitted 109 hats (preemie to adult). On Sunday (September 29th), 79 of preemie and baby hats were delivered to the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) at Gunderson Health System and Mayo Health System - Franciscan Healthcare. The remaining hats were donated to New Horizons Shelter & Women's Center on Monday (September 30th). During the week, the staff brought in a total of 260 lbs of food and a total of 136 food items. This was part of a friendly food competition with the Weather Forecast Offices from Flagstaff, AZ; Marquette, MI; and Milwaukee, WI. The La Crosse office took the pound part of this challenge. The second highest weight total was 199 lbs by Marquette, MI. All of this food brought in locally was donated to our local food bank (WAFER) on Thursday (October 3rd). There was even a couple cans of cat food and treats donated. After delivering the food, Matt Davis (ITO) and Jeff Boyne (forecaster) volunteered there for 2 to 3 hours. We helped clients, sorted food (including the food that we brought in), and restocked shelves. On October 21st, 4 members of the NWS La Crosse, WI staff (lead forecasters Tim Halbach & Andrew Just, forecaster John Wetenkamp Jr., and hydrologist Mike Welvaert) took on the Gravedigger Burger Challenge at Champions Riverside Bar & Grill in Galesville, WI. In this challenge, you have 30 minutes to eat a 3 lb. cheeseburger created by Green Packer Gilbert Brown (#93) and pile of waffle fries. All of the proceeds from this challenge goes toward male breast cancer research. This cause is close to John and Tim hearts since both of their grandfathers have it. In an effort to increase the number of participants, their MIC (Glenn Lussky) offered to pay $5 of the $30 entry fee. 5 additional staff members and 5 family members came along to root them on, but after 20 minutes they were defeated and their faces were added to the infamous “Wall of Shame”. |
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| Las Vegas, NV WFO:[top] | Three Square (Food Bank) |
| WFO Las Vegas NV participated in the NWS Week Of Service on Oct. 3rd by volunteering at Three Square, the food bank that serves the Las Vegas Valley. Due to staff shortages and the inability to take annual leave or comp time during the government shutdown, only four staff members were available to help (see attached picture from left to right): myself, Larry Jensen, Barry Pierce and Ryan Metzger. We worked in one of three kitchen assembly lines from 9 AM until noon preparing a total of 1900 boxed lunches which were to be delivered to local disadvantaged students the following day. It was rewarding to help meet one of the needs in our community. |  |
| Louisville, KY WFO:[top] | Dare to Care Food Bank |
| WFO Louisville KY held an in-house food drive and delivered their donations to Dare to Care Food Bank. They also scheduled to volunteer at Dare to Care, but the government shutdown put complications on that so they had to reschedule it. |  |
| Los Angeles/Oxnard, CA WFO:[top] | California Coastal Cleanup Day 2103 & Volunteering at their local Food Bank |
| WFO Los Angeles/Oxnard, CA went all out for NWS Week of Service by putting together two group volunteer activities for 2013. On September 21st, Eric Boldt, Alice Carretero, Todd Hall and their families picked up trash across the local beaches in Ventura California as part of California Coastal Cleanup Day 2013.
On Wednesday October 2nd, staff members volunteered their time at the local food bank in Oxnard called "FoodShare". The group was able to sort and pack several boxes of canned and dry foods which will be sent to other pantries in Ventura county for needy families as well as senior citizens. |
A group of NWS memebers that helped sort and box food on Wed, Oct 2nd. The people in the picture: From L to R Mark Jackson, Alice Carrettero, John Dumas, "Rob" from Foodshare, Curt Kaplan, Carol Smith Mark's son "Drew" also helped out. |
| Marquette, MI WFO:[top] | Food Drive |
| Weather Forecast Offices from Milwaukee, WI; Flagstaff, AZ; La Crosse, WI; and Marquette, MI held a friendly competition during the week to see who could collect the most items of food and greatest amount fo pounds for a food bank in their area. During this 4 office food drive, 638 items of food and 21 other items (baby, pet food, etc.) was collected. The food weighed 664 lbs. Flagstaff, AZ brought in the most items (260) and La Crosse, WI collected the most weight-wise (260 lbs). The Marquette office collected 162 items of food and 16 other items. The food had a weight of 199 lbs of food and this was donated to their local food bank. |  |
| Medford, OR WFO:[top] | Siskiyou Challenge Fun Run |
| On Saturday September 28th, WFO Medford sponsored one organized event, the Siskiyou Challenge Fun Run in Ashland, Oregon to benefit area schools and children. This was attended by the WFO Medford WCM, Ryan Sandler and his family. Other people in the office participated in a variety of individual ways within the community. This event benefits local schools as proceeds from this race go to the Rogue Farm to School program which links schools with local farmers to educate children about our food system . |
| Memphis, TN WFO & CWSU:[top] | Food Drive for the Memphis Food Bank |
| We had another successful NWS Week of Service. The Memphis WFO and CWSU combined our efforts to support the Memphis Food Bank again this year. We filled 8 boxes with food, paper goods and personal hygiene items. Robort Slattery was the organizer for the CWSU and Carolyn Glover was the organizer for WFO Memphis. We increased our boxes of goods by 2 boxes this year, from 6 boxes to 8 boxes.
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| Miami, FL WFO:[top] | Camillus House & 2013 Fed's Feeding Families Food Drive |
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WFO Miami, FL did the following for the week:
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| Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI WFO:[top] | Food Drive |
| Weather Forecast Offices from Milwaukee, WI; Flagstaff, AZ; La Crosse, WI; and Marquette, MI held a friendly competition during the week to see who could collect the most items of food and greatest amount fo pounds for a food bank in their area. During this 4 office food drive, 638 items of food and 21 other items (baby, pet food, etc.) was collected. The food weighed 664 lbs. Flagstaff, AZ brought in the most items (260) and La Crosse, WI collected the most weight-wise (260 lbs). The Milwaukee office collected 80 items of food and 2 other items. The food had a weight of 107 lbs of food and this was donated to their local food bank. | |
| Minneapolis, MN WFO, North Central River Forecast Center, and the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center:[top] | Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) |
| Minneapolis, MN WFO, North Central River Forecast Center, and the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center hand-packed over 6000 meals at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) in Chanhassen, MN on Wednesday, October 2nd. These meals will provide 18 children with one meal per day for an entire year. FMSC sends meals to nearly 70 countries to help those suffering from severe malnutrition, and also provided meals to victims in the aftermath of natural disasters such as the Joplin tornado and Hurricane Katrina. The meals that were packed by WFO MPX will be shipped to El Salvador. |  |
| Monterey/San Francisco Bay Area, CA WFO:[top] | "Healthy Eating" Food Drive |
| The theme for WFO Monterey’s participation in NWS Week of Service was “healthy eating.” Employees of the Monterey office donated 40 lbs of healthy food to the Monterey County Food Bank, as the Food Bank often has difficulties collecting healthy food. Some of the items donated included whole grain pasta, brown rice, and plain Cheerios. The Food Bank greatly appreciated the donation and they look forward to working with WFO Monterey in the future! |  |
| Newport/Morehead City, NC WFO:[top] | Food Drive for Matthew 25 Food Pantry in Newport, NC |
| WFO Morehead City staff brought in 70 lbs of food for Matthew 25 in Newport, NC. This food pantry serves 200 to 300 families a week. |  |
| New York/Upton, NY WFO:[top] | Food Drive |
| The Weather Forecast Office at New York, NY (OKX) competed in a friendly competition with the Boston Weather Forecast Office (BOX) and Northeast River Forecast Center. The results were calculated as pounds per person to make the competition more fair. The winning team gets "bragging rights".
Results:
One of the forecasters, Joe Pollina, also offered to congratulate BOX by baking a cake for OKX and writing "Boston Strong" on the cake...a win-win for both offices. As an incentive to collect more, Joe also developed an in-office competition, where he promised whoever brought in the most food would also get a cake baked with the flavors of their choice. |
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| North Platte, NE WFO:[top] | The Connection (Homeless Shelter) |
| North Platte, NE WFO donated items to The Connection. This is a local homeless shelter that provides services such as meals, clothing, shelter and so much more to those in need in the city of North Platte. The donations included coats for men, women, and children, blankets, and bed sheets. |  |
| Omaha, NE WFO: [top] | Blood Drive |
| The National Weather Service at Omaha/Valley, NE decided to hold a community Red Cross Blood Drive (2nd annual blood drive) for their 2013 Week of Service activity. NWS staff called on donors to make blood donation appointments, sent out e-mail reminders, put out signs in the community and promoted the drive on social media, donated or offered to donate food, greeted donors and provided tours for those that wanted to learn more about the NWS, and also participated as donors. They had to run it a little early (September 16th) due to a Red Cross computer system upgrade.
The goal set by the Mid-American Blood Services Division to host a drive and allow the use of the American Red Cross Bloodmobile is 25 units of blood. 30 people attempted to give blood and 27 units of blood were taken to the lab; so we exceeded our goal! Last year, they received 20 units of blood.
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| Pacific Regional Headquarters:[top] | CrimeStoppers Honolulu & State of Hawaii's Oahu Service Area Board on Mental Health and Substance Abuse |
| Richard Jackson volunteered at CrimeStoppers Honolulu. He also served his fifth four-year term on the State of Hawaii's Oahu Service Area Board on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. He was appointed by the Governor and approved by the Hawaii State Senate on a non partisan basis. Our Pacific Region Deputy Director, Edward Young Jr. attended the most recent commissioning ceremony with me. Richard and his Clergy are thankful for NOAA and NWS administrators for support and training, above and beyond the call of duty. |  |
| Paducah, KY WFO:[top] | Food Drive |
| NWS Paducah, KY held a food drive through November 15th for their local food pantry. |
| Pendleton, OR WFO:[top] | Agape House (also known as The Eastern Oregon Mission, Inc.) & Purrrfection Crew |
| WFO Pendleton participated by providing landscaping for Agape House in Hermiston, Oregon. Agape House, also known as The Eastern Oregon Mission, Inc., serves the community by providing food, clothes, and shelter to those in need. Their outdoor flower beds outside the building were in dire need of tender loving care, and staff and family members spent several days pulling weeds and pruning trees.
Diana Hayden, the General Forecaster at WFO Pendleton, volunteered for a cat adoption group called Purrrfection Crew. She took photos of various cats and kittens and will also be provide foster care for some of the cats until they find a good home. |
Mike Wister and 6-year old Tyson Wister working together at Agape House
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| Phoenix, AZ WFO:[top] | Habitat for Humanity and Boys & Girls Club |
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Senior Service Hydrologist Mike McLane volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Mesa, AZ. He has done so on a number of occasions in the past (with more weekends to follow) as this is the third house he has worked on. General Forecaster Austin Jamison teamed up with his brother Jason to conduct a tennis based play activity for 3 groups of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at a Boys and Girls Club in Phoenix. This was the first installment of a program that the U.S. Tennis Association will be instituting at the club. |
| Pittsburgh, PA WFO:[top] | Prayer Lutheran Church in Aliquippa, Toys-For-Tots, & Boxes For Soldiers Collection |
| WFO Pittsburgh, PA (PBZ) had two families volunteer at the House of Prayer Lutheran Church in Aliquippa - Manna Night on October 1st for cleanup after Soup Kitchen Dinner. They also collected donated items for the Toys-For-Tots and Soldier's Boxes. | 
Fred McMullen and Family (left) and Kathy Knupp and husband (right) helping out at the House of Prayer Lutheran Church in Aliquippa.
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| Portland, OR WFO:[top] | Portland Rescue Mission |
| The Portland staff brought in blankets for the Portland Rescue Mission. |
| Raleigh/Durham, NC WFO:[top] | Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina |
| NC State University's Graduate School sponsored a food drive in support of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Senior Forecaster Scott Sharp, who volunteers at the food bank, challenged the Raleigh staff to support the food drive. What the staff brought in, Scott matched it on his own. A total of 229 lbs of food was given to the food bank. |  |
| Reno, NV WFO: [top] | Truckee River Cleanup Day |
| On Saturday, September 28th, the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Reno, Nevada volunteered at the Truckee River Cleanup Day. Several NWS Volunteers pulled weeds, picked up trash, spread mulch, and raked leaves as a part of the effort. Volunteers picked up more than 16 tons of trash and weeds along the Truckee River as part of the Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful Truckee River Cleanup Day. |  |
| Riverton, WY WFO: [top] | School Supply Drive |
| As a part of the National Weather Service’s Week of Service, the staff at the Riverton, WY forecast office decided to change from its normal food drive and instead collect school supplies for a group of schools on the nearby Wind River Indian Reservation. Collection for these items began August 16th and continued through September 19th. A larger sized plastic tote was over-flowing with assorted school supplies which would go to the students of the Wyoming Indian Elementary School, Wyoming Indian Middle School, and Wyoming Indian High School.
On September 20th, staff members Kevin Lynott (Meteorologist-in-Charge) and Katy Branham (General Forecaster) from the Riverton forecast office were able to deliver two boxes worth of supplies to the school system’s representative, Melissa Friday. During the delivery, Ms. Friday indicated that they were in special need of supplies this school year because some other normal drives and donations were not available. She explained the supplies would be further divided to be age appropriate for the schools. The supplies would then be delivered to the counselor offices where students could claim supplies on an as needed basis. During the delivery, two 8th Grade students were brought in as student representatives to accept the gift. An article regarding the donation was included in the school system’s October newsletter. |
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| Sacramento, CA & California Nevada Basin River Forecast Center:[top] | Sacramento Food Bank & Childrens Receiving Home of Sacramento |
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On Tuesday, October 1st, volunteers from the Sacramento WFO and California Nevada River Forecast Center, and their families, distributed food to families in need. Emergency groceries were provided in a farmer’s market style outdoor setting to about 200 individuals, ultimately feeding approximately 450 people. This was a great opportunity for folks to engage in service, fun, and fellowship! In addition to this, the staff collected and donated 6 large boxes of clothing and supplies to the Childrens Receiving Home of Sacramento. When children are removed from their homes, this receiving home is where they stay until they can be evaluated and moved into a permanent foster care arrangement. As the children often arrive with nothing but what they are wearing, there is always a need for new items at this location. |
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| Salt Lake City, UT CWSU & National Air Route Traffic Control Center Facility:[top] | Adopt a Ghost & Veterans Affairs Hospital Library |
| The Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) in Salt Lake City adopted 2 causes for the NWS Week of Service. The first was "Adopt a Ghost", an organization supported and operated solely through the efforts of volunteers. All donations go directly toward soldier support projects and activities. We collected care package supplies for Utah soldiers deployed overseas.
The second was a book drive for the Veterans Affairs Hospital Library in Salt Lake City. Because the CWSU only has a staff of 3 people, we worked with the Air Route Traffic Control Center Facility where we are housed, with support of the local chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, to increase participation and gather more care package supplies and books. |
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| Salt Lake City, UT WFO & Colorado Basin River Forecast Center:[top] | Hartland Partnership Center |
| The Salt Lake City, UT WFO and the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center held a school supply drive during the month of September. They collected several boxes of basic school supplies (pencils, pens, markers, erasers, rulers, folders, notebooks, etc.) for the Hartland Partnership Center. Their mission is to provide space for a broad range of campus-community partnership activities. Bringing these activities to Hartland residents helps equip all with the tools and resources needed to more fully participate in the broader Salt Lake community. |  |
| San Angelo, TX WFO:[top] | Picked up trash along the road sides |
| A few of us individually (not as an office) picked up trash along roadways in the community and/or participated in church related activities. |
| Shreveport, LA WFO:[top] | Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana |
| Several staff members from WFO SHV served at the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana on Wednesday October 2nd. We had a great time and packed 72 boxes with 2,472 lbs of food for needy seniors! In addition, we held a food drive at the office and donated over 70 lbs of food to help re-stock the Food Bank. |
Pictured from left to right, Lisa Frantz-May, Jason Hansford, Michael Berry, and Mario Valverde. |
| Southern Region Headquarters:[top] | Tarrant Area Food Bank (TAFB) Help Pack Backpacks for Kids |
| NWS Southern Region Headquarters volunteered at the Tarrant Area Food Bank (TAFB). They had 11 volunteers who came out to participate in the the TAFB Help Pack Backpacks for Kids. We helped pack 9 pallets of food to help feed about 1600 kids this weekend. We had lots of fun while serving our community. |  |
| Spokane, WA WFO: [top] | Catch A Special Thrill (C.A.S.T.) for Kids |
| C.A.S.T. for Kids at Clear Lake was a big success on Saturday (September 21st). A big thank you to Dwight and Colby Williams and Ryan Fliehman for representing WFO Spokane, WA. Over 40 local kids with special needs participated. Many of these kids do not get the opportunity to ride on a boat or go fishing, so CAST is a thrill for them.
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| Springfiled, MOWFO:[top] | Meals a Million |
| On November 15th, the National Weather Service Springfield Office crew volunteered a few hours for the Meals a Million at the Springfield Expo Center. They created 2,592 meals for people in lower developed countries to help fight hunger. |  |
| Tampa Bay, FL WFO & NOAA Fisheries Service Southeast Regional Office in St. Peterson, FL:[top] | Feeding America-Tampa Bay & Great American Cleanup in Gulfport |
| Forecasters Jennifer Colson and Nicole Carlisle led the NWS TBW effort for the 3rd Annual NWS National Week of Service. They worked in collaboration with the Southeast Regional Office of the NOAA Fisheries Service and together, the two offices donated 135 pounds of food and toiletries to a local food bank in Tampa.
Jen and Nicole also traveled over to Gulfport to help clean up the Clam Bayou Nature Park. |
Forecasters Jennifer Colson and Nicole Carlisle led the NWS TBW effort for the 3rd Annual NWS National Week of Service. |
| Topeka, KS WFO:[top] | Harvesters Food Bank |
| On October 5th, the National Weather Service in Topeka, KS volunteered at Harvesters Food Bank. They packaged up fresh produce in preparation for it's delivery to several local food pantries. During their time there, they managed to bag up more than 1,200 lbs of carrots!!. |  |
| Tuscon, AZ WFO:[top] | Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona |
| NWS Tucson volunteered at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Emily French, Ken Drozd and Brian Francis worked with other volunteers to unpack and position hundreds cases of coconut water in time for the following day’s planned mass distribution event. The total weight of the food moved was nearly 5 tons. |  |
| Western Region Headquarters:[top] | The Utah Food Bank |
| Leslie Wanek and her family were able to help The Utah Food Bank make food donation deliveries to the elderly and disabled as a part of the NWS Week of Service. Here are Leslie's words about the experience: "It was a valuable experience for me and my boys. It was also really easy and something I think we can and should do more regularly. The Food Bank folks were very nice and appreciative. Ironically, or maybe its not so ironic, neither of the people we were supposed to deliver the food to were at the addresses provided. Other people were living there now. Even so, these were low incomes areas and the new residents needed the food items just as badly. They were thrilled we left everything with them and they were very appreciative (and even shocked) at the generosity. Overall, great experience! I feel its important not just for my kids to see how others live but for me to be reminded of how good we all have it. Also, we delivered the food during the shutdown. Naturally, like most people, I was concerned and worried about finances. This was an eye opening experience and made me feel extremely grateful for my life and everything my family has. Truth is...if the little amount of food we delivered was in my house, I bet the kids would be saying, 'Mom...there is nothing to eat here'. Yet...this might be all the food these people get for weeks and weeks. Sad but true. |  |
| Wilmington, NC WFO: [top] | Easter Seals |
| On September 28th, the WFO Wilmington, NC staff, family and friends participated in a volleyball tournament to raise money for the Easter Seals foundation. WFO Wilmington's team, the "Absolute Zeroes", placed 3rd on the way to helping raise over $2000 to bring hope and answers to children and adults living with autism and other disabilities or special needs. | 
Pictured from left to right: Carl Morgan (ITO), Mike Perdue (ESA), Josh Weiss (Forecaster), Paul Denny (Electronics Technician), Mack Morgan, and Sydney Abruzzino. |
| Wilmington, OH WFO & the Ohio River Forecast Center:[top] | Pet Food Drive & Adopt-a-Highway |
| WFO Wilmington, OH and the Ohio River Forecast Center collected 2 bags of dog food, 2 packages of paper towels, a bag of kitty litter, 2 boxes of dog biscuits, several toys, leashes/collars, and other assorted items for 2 local humane societies. In addition to this activity, 7 members of the WFO and the RFC staffs participated in an Adopt-a-Hghway segment cleanup. |
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