2017 NWS Week of Service

NWS Week of Service Main Web Page

NWS Week of Service Facebook Page

Other Weeks & Seasons

2011 (September 25 - October 1)
2012 (September 30 - October 6)
2013 (September 29 - October 5)
2014 (September 28 - October 4)
2015 (September 27 - October 3)
2016 (September 25 - October 1)
2018 (September 30 - October 6)
2019 (September 29 - October 5)
2020 (September 1 - November 30)
2021 (September 1 - November 30)
2022 (September 1 - November 30)
2023 (September 1 - November 30)

Albany WFO is conducted a food drive for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York BackPack Program for the fifth consecutive year.  Their staff brought in 109 pounds during this drive.

In addition, they have been collecting pull-tabs for the Albany Ronald McDonald House for almost 2 years now.

Finally, their Electronics Technician Brett Chmura discovered his life's work in 3rd grade and has worked in electronics for more than 40 years. Like most young boys he also dreamed of being a fireman but pursued electronics when he joined the Navy. He trained for shipboard and aircraft firefighting while on Navy active duty, but never faced a real fire.

After coming to the National Weather Service in Albany NY, Brett moved to an area with only volunteer emergency services. He had the opportunity to live the dream of being a fireman and took it. That was 4 years ago and after completing NY state Fire Fighter training became a qualified interior firefighter. He says " I live very close to the fire station and often I am on the first truck out." He goes on to say his least favorite part of being a fire firefighter is the cold shower after being in a building on fire. "If you take a warm shower after being inside a building filled with heavy smoke your pores open and your body will absorb the smoke residue, so after interior fire fighting I have to take a cold shower to wash all the smoke residue off my skin."

Brett's wife Heather is a volunteer ambulance driver and daughter Laura is training to be a EMT/PARAMEDIC. His younger daughter Allison wants to be a Jr. firefighter and take the New York State firefighter class when she is 16, He recently retired from the Navy Reserve and enjoys HAM radio.

        

From September 1 through September 26, NWS Charleston, SC brought in food donations to make "On-the-go Meal Kits" for the Ronald McDonald House of Charleston. At the end of the donation period, several staff members worked together to assemble the kits. We were able to make 100 kits! Each kit contained a microwaveable entree, side, drink, and plastic utensils. The RMH of Charleston houses 32 families while children undergo extensive medical treatment. It allows parents & children to lead a life as normal as possible without having to pay for hotels/travel expenses.

On October 2, members of the NWS Chicago team (WFO and CWSU) volunteered to assist with a food packing event at the non-profit Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) in Aurora, IL.  This organization ensures provision of packed meal bags to malnourished children to troubled parts of the globe.  The boxes packed on this evening were to be shipped to Nicaragua and taken to the poorest areas.  The NWS Chicago group assisted with a larger group of nearly 100 people in the packing of 111 boxes of food, that would feed 66 children for an entire year.

On the evening of October 24, they will once be volunteering again there.

Feed My Starving Children ensures provision of these packed meals to malnourished children in different parts of the globe, some of which have been impacted by natural disasters such as hurricanes.

WFO Cleveland participated in two events for this year's NWS Week of Service. First the office held a food drive from September 22 through October 6 to benefit the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.   They collected a combination of 33 food and non-food items.

Then on October 26th, 4 staff members along with 7 family members, spent the evening volunteering with Coats for Kids. Coats for Kids collects new and gently used coats for adults and children in need across northeast Ohio. Our group was able to assist by sorting coats by size and packaging them to be distributed. Just in time for another cold Cleveland winter!

WFO El Paso donated 98 food items totaling 90 pounds to El Pasoans Fighting Hunger. These donations will go to families and individuals in need across the borderland. El Paso found this to be another great aspect of their office's commitment to protecting lives and property. They've set a goal to reach over 100 pounds of food next year!!

On Saturday October 21st, 2017, NWS Elko, NV had a road-side cleanup event. Thanks to those that gave up one to three hours of their valuable time to help out! It was definitely a chilly start with the thermometer pegging 22 degrees at 7 am. But with full sunshine ahead of us, we filled 7 large bags and removed two sizable piles of debris along both sides of a 1-mile stretch of Ruby Vista Drive. By the way, no sagebrush was injured or killed in the cleanup process. However, sadly, many animal carcasses were discovered. After all trash was disposed of, we went to JR's Restaurant and had a hearty breakfast courtesy of the Goodwill Team.

On September 29th, 3 NWS Hanford employees stocked shelves at the Hanford Salvation Army. Many boxes were open with dry and canned goods. The volunteers from NWS Hanford also bagged perishable foods in preparation for delivery. They handled thousands of pounds of food. Total time volunteering was 2-3 hours.

WFO Jackson really jumped out for the Week of Service this year!  78 lbs of food were collected during the first 2 weeks of October for the Mississippi Food Network, an organization that collects and distributes food to local communities in Central MS.

They also stepped out on Public Lands Day (9/30/17) to help clean up Vicksburg National Military Park. Two meteorologists spent the day tending to rose gardens, weeding and mulching.

Since March, one of the NWS La Crosse WI forecasters has knitted 138 preemie and baby hats. On the first day of the NWS Week of Service, he delivered them to 2 local hospitals (Gunderson Health System and Mayo Health System - Franciscan Healthcare in La Crosse, WI). The nurses really liked his new butterfly design.

From July 25th through September 3rd, NWS La Crosse, WI conducted their 8th annual school supply drive.  They were able to collect enough school supplies for 5 schools.  This year they donated to:

1. Austin High in Austin, MN
2. Hamilton Elementary in La Crosse, WI
3. Lincoln Elementary in Charles City, IA
4. Logan High in La Crosse, WI
5. Washington Elementary in Charles City, IA 

Over the past 8 years, they have donated school supplies to 43 schools.

On Wednesday, 20 adult and 20 kid hats were delivered to New Horizons Shelter & Outreach Centers. 

Finally, the office conducted a food drive for the WAFER food pantry.

Staff from NWS Louisville recently donated 8 flood buckets to hurricane relief efforts. Flood buckets are 5 gallon buckets filled with cleaners, gloves, wipes/scouring pads, insect repellent, etc that are distributed to those affected by the hurricanes/flooding. This is to help those individuals begin the overwhelming task of cleaning after the disaster.  Total cost to make a Flood Bucket is around $65 if buying all items including the bucket.  These were then sent by USPS to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) in Baldwin, LA for distribution to hurricane/flood victims.

The North Platte NE WFO staff saw a need from the local Pet Food Bank for dry dog and dry cat food, along with cat litter being advertised on their Facebook page. They also put a call into the local Salvation Army community food bank to see if they had any specific needs and they certainly did. We ended up collecting for both 155 pounds of food from September 24th through September 30th.

On October 2, Kelly Allen (meteorologist) and her daughter made the deliveries to both food banks. The Salvation Army was so happy with the quality of our donation - they said it was "just what they needed." They were especially excited by the macaroni and cheese! If you ever have a bunch of Mac N Cheese laying around, they would love to have it. They said that they can't keep it on the shelves.

There was a line of people at the pet food pantry when I arrived a little after 6 pm. They are only open on Mondays between 6 and 6:30. They were all very welcoming and I heard the phrase "you guys are rock stars" more than once. :-) They had a nice selection of quality pet food (We're talkin' grain-free Blue Buffalo dog food and Science Diet for those with pets who have special dietary needs) in addition to cat litter - which they JUST ran out of before we arrived with more - and pet toys, treats, and even new pet beds. Very often, people in need have to give up their pets because they suddenly cannot afford to feed them anymore (health issues, job loss, etc.). This service helps keep these pets out of our already full shelters and with their families where they belong. All of us with pets know how much they do to keep our spirits up in difficult times.

During August, NWS Pittsburgh office held a food drive for the Feds Feeds Families Drive and donated 48lbs. of food to the West Hills Food Pantry.

On September 26th staff went and assisted with the weekly food bank that served 160 families that day!

Pleasant Hill/Kansas City MO WFO and Missouri Basin RFC installed culverts along a trail that surrounds Pleasant Hill lake, to make the trail safer and prevent washout during heavy rain.

They also participated in the Food Drive competition and will be charging "admission" (food donations) to our diversity activity tomorrow to help promote it.  A total of 138.25 pounds of food was brought in during it.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, NWS Tampa Bay Area/Ruskin, FL knew that there were great needs at both locations. So, we collected a box worth of food for Feeding America Tampa Bay and a bag worth of food and supplies for the Tampa Bay Humane Society.  These were delivered on October 3.