2019 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)
2017 (September 24 - September 30)
2018 (September 30 - October 6)
2020 (September 1 - November 30)
2021 (September 1 - November 30)
2022 (September 1 - November 30)
2023 (September 1 - November 30)

Throughout the month of September and early October, their staff brought in 135 pounds of food for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY - BackPack Program.  This was their 7th consecutive year participating in this program.

On-going throughout the year, they collect pull-tabs for the Ronald McDonald House of Albany NY.

From September 22 to 27, a member of their staff and his wife performed grounds and building maintenance to the buildings on Hog Island (FOHI) Audubon Camp.  They helped prepare the camp to be closed for the winter.  He performed light carpentry building storage shelves, painted the exterior of the main administration building, and stabilized the building by repairing and building new foundation supports.

From September 29 through October 5, their staff brought in 109 pounds of food for the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse.

From October 15 to 22, their staff brought in 160 pounds of food for the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama.

From September 29 through October 12, their staff had their first food drive in many years. Though the drive started out slow it picked up steam late in the first week into the first part of the second week. Since it was a newer activity and we have shift work going on and people on leave, we decided to extend the drive another week to collect more food and baby items for the food bank. The Food Bank of Western New York serves the four western counties of western NY, which includes the Buffalo area.   A total of 141 pounds of food was brought in during this food drive

During September and early October 5, NWS Charleston, SC brought in donations for My Sister’s House, a local organization that provides services and resources to empower victims of domestic violence to live free from abuse. Their vision is to end the cycle of domestic violence in the Charleston tri-county area and align with the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA) in the effort to end domestic violence in South Carolina.

The donations included cleaning supplies, non-perishable foods, and other miscellaneous household items that will be used at the shelter, as well as for move-in kits for victims transitioning from the shelter to a loving home.

National Weather Service (NWS) in Grand Junction, Colorado decided to partner with the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) in Grand Junction of which meteorologist Matthew Aleksa and his wife are active members and worship leaders. Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Jeff Colton, and Matthew Aleksa from the NWS were joined by several members of FUMC for a grand total of 14 that helped clean up Eggleston Lake on the Grand Mesa on Saturday, August 31.  Eggleston Lake was a recent addition to our other three adopted lakes, adopted in memory of lead forecaster Larry Smith who passed away unexpectedly at Eggleston Lake in the summer of 2017.  The Adopt-A-Lake program was established by the US Forest Service 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 one of the many ways for us to reach out to our community by cleaning up four of the 300 plus lakes on the Grand Mesa, just before the mountain snowpack starts building and make our presence known outside the office.  We collected several bags of trash and it was appreciated by many who were enjoying the beauty of the lake on Labor Day weekend.  The NWS would like to extend our deepest gratitude to FUMC for helping us make this year’s AdoptA-Lake trash cleanup a success. We plan to partner with FUMC annually and alternate our adopted lakes every other year. In 2020, we plan to tackle Twin Lakes 1 and 2 which haven’t been cleaned up since 2016, then onto Kitson Reservoir in 2021.

Their staff is conducted a food drive for Paul's Pantry.

In addition, Keith Cooley, Phil Kurimski, Rebecca Hykin, and Scott Berschback conducted a roadside cleanup near their office.

During the NWS Week of Service (September 29-October 5), NWS La Crosse conducted their 7th annual food drive for WAFER Food Pantry.  During this drive, 83 pounds of food was brought in for WAFER.

In addition to this, one of the NWS La Crosse WI meteorologists knitted baby hats for the neonatal units at Gundersen Lutheran and Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan healthcare facilities. 

From September 29 through October 5, their staff brought in 458 pounds of dried food and staples to help the needy at Community Christian Concern in Slidell, LA.  Their office along with WFO Slidell, LA brought in 778 lbs of food or other items.  This was the most for an RFC co-located with a WFO.

In addition, 6 staff members volunteered at scouting, SPCA, Neighborhood Watch, and Poor/Youth activities.  They volunteered a total of 65 hours during the NWS Week of Service.

From October 1-23, they hosted a food drive for Food Bank For The Heartland this year. Hundred of non-perishable food items were collected and weighed in at over 100 pounds!  In addition to collecting at our local office, a few staff members went out into the community and collected canned goods door to door.  While collecting door to door, we were also able to share information with our neighbors about what we do at NWS Omaha and how they can access our forecast information.

We also collected several items to donate to Open Door Mission this year. We donated several warm blankets, several articles of new and used clothing, and several pairs of shoes!

Our third collection drive was for Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program. This program collects our well-worn athletic shoes and recycles them for use in other materials. We collected over 20 pairs of shoes!

From September 23 through October 9, their staff collected about $225 in supplies and pet food for Nate's Honor Animal Rescue.  It is a local animal rescue that also took in numerous animals that were displaced from the Bahamas due to Hurricane Dorian. 

NWS Tuscon volunteered at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.  Six staff members sorted 13,000 pounds of food, including frozen pork products, and cases of canned pears. 

Their staff also conducted a food drive for the University of Arizona Food Pantry, collecting 102 items weighing 85 pounds.