(How We Told the National Guard That) We're Not Gonna Take It!

Good morning, Charlotte!

This weekend, Molly and I had the immense pleasure of helping out the National Guard with their Vigilant Guard exercises. If you happened to be driving down Brookshire Boulevard this weekend and saw crazy protestors in bright vests screaming outside the water treatment plant, it was us. We were so happy to include our Charlotte-Mecklenburg Volunteer Emergency Support Team in our efforts as well, and I believe everyone had quite the wild and wonderful experience. If you've ever wanted an excuse to make a ruckus and yell at your Armed Forces and pretend to get arrested and fight against riot gear, let me know; I'll include you in our plans next time.

It was a beautiful weekend to volunteer in Charlotte!

Zondra, Molly, Tara, and Shannon walked into a day of shenanigans on Saturday!

We also had volunteers helping out in the Emergency Operations Center at a different site. There, representatives from all sorts of government and non-government organizations had to practice their reaction given actions by the crazy protestors at the water treatment plant and different scenarios at other sites across town.

Here, Shannon, Zondra, Molly and I told the National Guard that we could lay down forever until we were able to speak with the appropriate personnel about chemicals in the water. Shannon even braided Molly's hair for a while as we laid in the streets!

Zondra berated the guards at the back fence for close to an hour, even throwing her legs under the fence as she tried to sneak through that way!

We didn't just protest, though. There were all sorts of crazy hijinks we were able to pull. At one point, Zondra faked a heart attack to initiate the medical team's response from another location, and Tara had an asthma attack, couldn't breathe, and a National Guard soldier had to initiate CPR. Thanks for taking one for the team, y'all!

Tara helping the National Guard walk through whatever steps necessary to save a life whenever needed, and I think she enjoyed every minute of it!

On Sunday, we brought in a whole new crew of protesting volunteers. Crystal, Kaitlin, Zach, and Chris joined us to fight against soldiers in riot gear, and we had some more nontraditional methods (like laying down in front of the riot gear and rolling toward them). I was even able to find a spot to break in after some good hassling, and I was immediately arrested.

It happens to the best of us!

All in all, it was really quite the exciting weekend and reminder that AmeriCorps' Community Emergency Preparedness Corps really can provide the time of your life. If you have any questions about what Molly and I do, or if you would like to become involved with our volunteer emergency support team and attend an upcoming training to join our ranks, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at rob@handsoncharlotte.org. It was certainly a weekend I will remember forever, and I am glad to have been able to share that experience with our volunteers.

The organizations involved at our site included both Army and Air Force National Guard, CM-VEST, Charlotte Fire Department, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office, and staff from the water treatment plant. There were many, many more back at the Emergency Operations Center!

And, because a good protest isn't complete without some good Twisted Sister (Have any of you seen Rock of Ages??), enjoy this for your day, and please, join us next time and sing with us at our next faux protest. It's the time of your life, I promise. Stay safe, y'all!

(How To Help When There's) Fire on the Mountain!

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

I hope this finds you well on this dreary and wet day. One day every week, Molly and I have the immense pleasure of working out of the Charlotte American Red Cross office. One of our recent endeavors in our time here is helping out with their Disaster Action Team.

If you don't already know, the Red Cross will sometimes send out volunteers from their office to see how best to address the needs of individuals and familied affected by house fires. These volunteers will actually show up to the fire scene, assess what the individual or family's immediate needs are, and connect them with solutions to assist them in getting through the immediate aftermath.

So happy that I get to work with this girl every week!

As fate would have it, the Red Cross is actually looking to expand this program. Should you read this blog and happen to get your blood boiling in all the right ways when you think about helping people out in times of disaster, please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail at rob@handsoncharlotte.org. I am really quite excited to be joining in on this venture, and would love to give back with some of you as well. I don't know if you've noticed, but Molly and I really don't know how not to make everything we do into a positive experience and have a great time while helping others.

As always, stay safe, y'all, and enjoy some tunes (and coffee, if you're like me) to make it through this rainy afternoon!

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (And How We Need To Plan To Do the Same)!

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

As you may have noticed, we try to find some interesting and engaging material regarding emergency preparedness outside of the more typical hurricane/tornado/earthquake/fire safety tips. While those are all certainly important and applicable and I'm going to tell you to have a 72-hour emergency supply in your home until the cows come home, I would also like to raise a valid point I found in an article on Forbes this morning: the importance of cybersecurity emergency preparedness.

Many of you are probably familiar with the recent cybersecurity breach surrounding Sony's release of The Interview (now available on Netflix, may I note), as well as the release of credit card information in breaches at Target and other stores.

While many places focus on being ready in the case of a loss of power or hardware, or for the equally real threat of a fire or earthquake, Ray Rothrock points out in this article published on Forbes.com that many places do not have much-needed plans for how to deal with breaches of cybersecurity. In his piece, Rothrock points out many of the parallels between traditional natural disaster emergency preparedness and what is really needed in a quickly evolving world with perpetually growing electronic capabilities, and by that same token, perpetually growing threats to the cybersecurity of any organization with confidential information.

Even with something as simple as credit card and password information you have stored on your home computer, it can be important to have files backed up on an external hard drive in case of a future hack into your information. However, this risk goes all the way from the home personal computer to retail stores like Target, and banks like the ones on which this beautiful city has such a substantial foundation. It made for a great read this morning, and I definitely recommend it if you have a few minutes to spare some thought.

Please click here to access the article on Forbes.com!

And since you all know how I feel about getting a little weird, please enjoy some Flaming Lips with your afternoon coffee (or whatever it is you're into around this time of day). After all, it would be quite tragic were the evil robots to win.

Stay safe, y'all!

Takin' It to the Streets!

Good evening, Charlotte!

This morning, Molly and I had the immense pleasure of joining Charlotte's American Red Cross chapter, the Charlotte Fire Department, and Piedmont Natural Gas to distribute information about fire and natural gas safety, as well as to offer free smoke alarms, to residents in south Charlotte. If you would like a free smoke alarm, or need batteries for the smoke alarm you currently have and you live in a single-family home in Charlotte, please do not hesitate to e-mail either me at rob@handsoncharlotte.org, or Molly at molly@handsoncharlotte.org, and we will be sure to put you in contact with the appropriate person within the Charlotte Fire Department! No time like the present to make sure you have a functional smoke alarm in your home!

Here, the Red Cross, CFD, and PNG told Channel 3 to check your smoke alarms every Daylight Savings Day! It's an easy way to remember to check your alarms every six months. If you're like me, write it in your planner every Daylight Savings Day to make it even easier to remember!

It was great to see people from so many organizations coming together to keep Charlotteans safe!

Again, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about getting a free smoke alarm, and feel free to contact us so we can keep you in the loop if you would like to join future smoke alarm canvassing events! It was a great time, and we met a lot of wonderful people.

As always, stay safe, Charlotte, and enjoy some Doobie Brothers on this chilly night!

(How To Be Ready When We Need To Shelter in Our) Little Boxes!

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

In case you haven't signed up already to have the monthly updates sent to your e-mail from the Do1Thing campaign, I would love to take this chance to share with you their March release, which is centered around sheltering.

Many times, emergencies and disasters can be predicted. For example, hurricanes take a while to reach land after forming over water, and snow storms that might require an evacuation to friends' or relatives' houses in lesser affected regions are predicted at least a couple days out as well. However, there are some cases in which one might not have ample time to plan an evacuation, like a tornado that can pop up and allow a very short amount of time to find a safe place.

It is in cases like these that we all need to be prepared to shelter in place, and this month, Do1Thing published a visual fact sheet, which you can read by clicking this link, detailing some guidelines for what to do when sudden and immediate shelter is needed. For example, if a tornado is headed your way, take shelter in the lowest most central area of the structure you're in, and be sure to avoid windows. Further, while if you are in your home you want to be sure you can be comfortable with your family for at least 45 minutes, one should also avoid large rooms, a fact I didn't know until I saw my e-mail this morning!

You can find the full March release from Do1Thing here, complete with some additional facts, the visual fact sheet I mentioned earlier, and a video about the need for sheltering plans. Further, if you'd like to join me in receiving Do1Thing's e-mails every month, please click here and enter your information. It's free, and can be a really great way to prepare yourself gradually over the course of a year.

And as always, stay safe, Charlotte, and enjoy this beautiful warm weather if you have the chance today!

Lemme Take a Selfie (And Please Send Your #Selfie or #Unselfie To Us)!

Good morning, Charlotte!

Molly and I are starting a campaign to compile as many pictures of volunteers in love with how they give back as we can for a really fun project, and we need your help!

While we love to share what we're doing with all of you, we think a product with selfies of volunteers from all over would be much, much more interesting than a bunch of pictures of just us in the office. This means, if you have any pictures from a volunteer project you love, please e-mail it and a little blurb about why you love volunteering to us at rob@handsoncharlotte.org!

If you're heading to a project soon, please don't forget to take a new picture and send it our way too! We're so excited to see how others like to give back, and we're really excited to get going with this project. Thanks for any and all pictures, and since it's inevitable I use this song, dance around your office (or wherever you find yourself), and enjoy your day!

Stay safe, y'all!

(Staying Warm When It's) Hot As Ice!

Good morning, Charlotte!

We hope this finds you staying warm. In light of the wild weather earlier this week and the lingering cold temperatures, we did want to let you all know about resources in case you are reading this and don't have access to regular shelter. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management and Mecklenburg County Community Support Services will be opening a warming station at the Homeless Resource Center Hal Marshall Annex at 618 North College Street at 10:00 AM today, Thursday, February 19, and tomorrow, Friday, February 20. These warming stations will remain set up until 6:30, when if transportation to an overnight shelter is needed, it will be provided as well.

For further information about the warming stations, please click here to see the full release from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management.

Please stay safe and warm, y'all, and enjoy some Britney to keep you extra toasty!