JMG News

 

BIWEEKLY UPDATE | OCTOBER 2021 COFFEE DAY RECAP NATIONAL LEADER TRAINING REGISTRATION CRANBERRY ORANGE BREAD RECIPE NEED AN AFTERNOON PICK-ME-UP? Grab a cup of joe and take a look at this video! We celebrated International Coffee Day with Johanna Roman, a JMG trainer who has a family farm in Guatemala, to learn more about coffee and how to make a proper latte. TAKE A LOOK JMG NATIONAL LEADER TRAINING REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! Make plans to join us for a hands-on, fun-filled 3 days of JMG training in College Station, TX on February 21st-23rd, 2022! You will get to learn about JMG curricula, community partnerships, program implementation, and more. If you are interested in speaking, please visit our website to learn more and submit a proposal by Oct. 26th! LEARN MORE REGISTER NOW! IT'S CRANBERRY SEASON! We love fresh cranberries, and think pairing them with orange makes them even better! Make this delicious Cranberry Orange Bread and share with your JMG group, friends, and family! Thanks to our friends at Dinner Tonight for the inspiration. CHECK OUT THE RECIPE VISIT OUR WEBSITE Junior Master Gardener Program | juniormastergardener@gmail.com CONNECT WITH US:  ‌  ‌  ‌

Individual & Community Preparedness Newsletter

 

In This Issue: Ready Tips CERT & Communities Children & Disasters Financial Resilience Important Dates   Newsletter Moving to Quarterly Format With this issue, the Individual and Community Preparedness newsletter moves to a quarterly schedule. Each January, April, July and October, readers can continue to look forward to timely preparedness tips and news on youth and community-based organization preparedness, and citizen responder topics such as Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs). Look for our Leadership Spotlight in each issue, where we feature an interview with a FEMA leader.   Look for the next editions the first Thursday of the month in January, April, July, and October 2022. We hope you find the newsletter informative and share what you learn with family and community members. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov.

Ready Tips

Staying Safe during the Holidays  From Halloween to New Year’s, there’s a lot to celebrate in the fall and early winter, even as the days grow shorter. Ensure you and your family have happy holidays by keeping these safety tips in mind: Rather than a candle, consider lighting up your jack-o’-lantern with a small, battery-operated flameless one. If you do illuminate it with a traditional candle, remember to blow it out before bed or before you leave home. Only use nonflammable decorations indoors. Whether you’re making holiday cookies or the Thanksgiving turkey, practice cooking safety to avoid fires at home. Stay alert in the kitchen and turn off the stove when you leave the kitchen. When you shop online for holiday gifts, be cautious, and shop with trusted retailers to avoid scams. Water your Christmas tree regularly. Dry branches are a fire hazard. Turn off the tree’s lights overnight or when you’re not home. Place your menorah on a sturdy, non-flammable surface out of reach of small children and pets. Never leave lit candles unattended. Follow the latest COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for safe holiday gatherings. The CDC recommends delaying travel until you are fully vaccinated. For more information on holiday safety, visit Ready.gov’s Holiday and Travel Safety Toolkit. You will find tips, graphics, promotional content, and hashtags on holiday safety and preparedness that you can share. Have a wonderful holiday season! Staying Safe in Cyberspace Learn how to protect yourself from cyberattacks during October’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Cybersecurity involves preventing, detecting, and responding to cyberattacks that can have wide-ranging effects on individuals, organizations, the community, and at the national level. On an individual level, cyberattacks can involve gaining access to your computer, mobile phone or gaming system. They can result in identity theft, loss of money, and loss of access to your accounts. These attacks target both children and adults. Protecting yourself can seem daunting, but the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) provides a week-by-week plan to strengthen your cybersecurity know-how. FEMA also has dozens of tips to help keep you safe online. Week of October 4 – Be Cyber Smart: Limit the personal information you share online. Change privacy settings and do not use location features. Using a password manager, use upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters, as well as two-factor authentication (two methods of verification). Read the Creating a Password Tip Sheet for more information. Week of October 11 – Fight the Phish! Scammers use varying methods to go “phishing” for your personal information, and newer scams use fears about COVID-19 to trick you. Do not click on links in texts or emails from people you don’t know. Scammers can create fake links to websites and may try to contact you through social media. Learn more with this tip sheet. Week of October 18 – Explore. Experience. Share. Learn more about careers in cybersecurity and the need for more trained workers in the expanding cybersecurity industry during Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week. Week of October 25 – Cybersecurity First. Don’t let cybersecurity be an afterthought. Before you connect to any public wireless hotspot, such as at a café or hotel, confirm the exact login procedures with staff to ensure the network is legitimate. Avoid sensitive activities like banking while using public Wi-Fi. For more ways to stay cyber safe, visit ready.gov/cybersecurity.

CERT & Communities

2020 Certification Results The 2020 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Annual Certification results are in. They provide insight into the activities of CERTs nationwide. The results are particularly striking because they highlight CERTs’ incredible diversity. This diversity includes the types of communities they serve, training they undergo, and deployment activities with which they assist. The graphs in this article were developed from the 2020 Certification results, in which CERTs were asked to report basic information and program activities that occurred during 2020. The versatility of CERTs shown in these results highlights their great success in equipping their communities with the ability to prepare for hazards. Over 90 percent of CERTs reported that they serve counties and/or cities, while the remainder serve universities, workplaces, neighborhoods, state, or tribal communities. Read more...  2021 National Household Survey Webinars  Every year, FEMA surveys the public to assess the Nation’s progress in building a culture of preparedness and the trends in disaster perceptions and experiences that influence people to take steps to become more prepared. Join FEMA for a webinar series to discuss the results of the 2021 National Household Survey (NHS)! Learn more about the results of the 2021 NHS here. 2021 NHS Summary Part II – Key Findings and National Overview – October 14 from 2 – 3 p.m. ET. Register here 2021 NHS Summary Part II – Hazards and Demographics – October 28 from 2 – 3 p.m. ET. Register here For questions, please email FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov.

Children & Disasters

Integrating the Needs of Children Children comprise a large portion of every community, and it is important that we as a nation are prepared to address their disaster-related needs from the onset of planning. This may include providing age-appropriate supplies, re-establishing child care and educational facilities, or delivering human services. FEMA designed the new Community Preparedness: Integrating the Needs of Children workshop to bring together emergency managers and child-serving organizations that are responsible for the care of children and youth to support and build collaboration among local governments, emergency managers, and community-based organizations that serve children. In this workshop, you will learn how to identify the unique needs of children and their families while recognizing the organizations and requirements that help keep children safe and healthy during disasters. The workshop includes seven modules and can be delivered in-person or online. In-person options include plans for delivering the workshop as a single day, two-day, or three-day course. Instructions are also included for virtual facilitation. After completing the course, you will be able to: Understand the disaster-related needs of infants, children, and youth, and the importance of integrating these needs throughout emergency preparedness plans and your community’s emergency management programming. Identify key stakeholders to include disability experts in planning efforts. Read more...

Financial Resilience

Disaster Assistance vs. Flood Insurance: Do You Know the Difference?  If you experience property damage during a flood, you’ll likely be able to cover your recovery costs through disaster assistance funding—right? Possibly wrong. In fact, federal disaster assistance isn’t guaranteed, and many residents overestimate the amount of funding they’ll receive (if any). As climate change worsens and residents face an increasing risk of damage from things like hurricanes, levee failures, and post-fire flooding, you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared. Take the first step by visiting FloodSmart.gov to learn how flood insurance can best protect you against the financial impact of flooding. Here are five key differences between disaster assistance and flood insurance: Disaster Declarations: Federal disaster assistance requires a Major Disaster Declaration from the president to authorize funding for FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program. Flood insurance does not require a disaster declaration, so policyholders can make a claim almost immediately after any flood event. Coverage: Both disaster assistance and flood insurance cover flood damage to your primary residence—but disaster assistance is only designed to make a home “safe, sanitary, and fit to occupy,” not to restore it to pre-disaster condition. Disaster assistance can sometimes be used for additional expenses like vehicle repairs, temporary housing, or medical fees, but only flood insurance offers building and contents coverage that is customizable to meet your needs. Payout: Federal disaster assistance often comes in the form of a FEMA disaster grant, which averages about $5,000 per household, or a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan. By comparison, the average flood insurance claim payment over the past five years was approximately $69,000. Unless purchased through a private vendor, flood insurance policies are backed by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). You will never need to repay the NFIP for your flood insurance, but certain forms of federal assistance, like SBA loans, must be repaid with interest. Read more...

Important Dates

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and National Community Planning Month October 3 – 9 is National Fire Prevention Week October 10: World Mental Health Day October 11: Indigenous Peoples’ Day October 12: Search & Rescue, Lost Person Behavior Webinar (1 – 2:30 p.m. ET) October 14: 2021 National Household Survey Summary Part I – Key Findings and National Overview (2 – 3 p.m. ET) October 15: Global Handwashing Day October 21: International ShakeOut Day October 22: Alternate Water and Power Resources Workshop (10 – 11 a.m. ET) October 26: Maintaining & Revitalizing your CERT Program (1 – 2:30 p.m. ET) October 28: National First Responders Day October 28: 2021 National Household Survey Summary Part II – Hazards and Demographics (2 – 3 p.m. ET)  Disclaimer: The reader recognizes that the federal government provides links and informational data on various disaster preparedness resources and events and does not endorse any non-federal events, entities, organizations, services, or products. Please let us know about other events and services for individual and community preparedness that could be included in future newsletters by contacting  FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov.

Turkey Time

   Our 4-H Animal Science Show is the predecessor to the big State Turkey Show.  So after the show the turkeys were packed up and spent the night at their 4-H Agents house before being loaded up on a truck and driven to Raleigh.  There they were assigned pens, weighed and waited for their agent to get parked and then bring them food and water.  After making sure they were happy in their new digs at the state fair grounds (and what turkey wouldn't be happy there?) we put up signs so our 4-H members could find their birds and we went home to rest before our early trip on Thursday.

  We left even before the crack of dawn planning to arrive at the fairgrounds between 7 and 7:30 am.  However an accident derailed us and turned 40 into a parking lot.  So some frantic texts and a very kind and understanding person on the other end of those messages allowed our youth to still show their birds at the show...just maybe in a different order.

  First up was our cloverbud, known as a little gobbler in the turkey show lingo, Addie Shooter.  Addie showed her 21 pound bird.  When all was said and done she walked away with a fifith place ribbon.

  Her brother Jackson Shooter was up next.  Jackson was in the Jr Division.  He placed 11th in his heat.  It is important to remember that there were 212 turkey participants.  Those youth were broken down into three age categories; Little Gobbler, Juniors, and Seniors.  Within those age divisions there were multiple heats of 15 youth.  The top first and second birds from each heat came back for the grand and reserve champion drive.  In 2019 the grand champion bird took home more than $10,000.  So this is a competitive and difficult show.

  Up last was our senior division participant, Maggie Love.  Maggie showed her 19 pound bird in an extremely competitive division.  She placed 11th in her grouping that included birds weighing 30 pounds.  

 After all the fun the turkeys were loaded onto a trailer to take to market.  Our youth learned a lot about raising and caring for turkeys.  They also learned about showing and what to look for.  We are proud of all our turkey participants this year and those who made it all the way to state.  

  To see more of the show photos please click this link.  To learn more about this program please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.,edu

   

4-H Small Animal Shows

 It was quite a night!  Our 4-H members and their families came out to see them show the animals in the ring.  This usually happens as part of the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair.  However due to concern for public safety (due to high COVID numbers) the fair board canceled the fair for this year.  So we worked with a variety of folks and made this happen this year for all our showmen.

  Tonight was our small animal shows; rabbits, laying hens, and turkeys.  For almost half of our participants it was their first time in the ring.   That can be very scary.  As your animal is being examined and someone is determining how well you took care of it, you also have answers questions from a stranger.  An adult with more knowledge than you.  Will they be nice, do they have a sense of humor, will you know the right answer?  To make it even worse, your parents aren't in the ring to make sure you do it right you have to do it on your own and your parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and strangers are watching you.  That can be really intimidating.  Let me start by saying how proud I am of all of our youth who took on this project, got in the show ring, and made it happen.  They did a wonderful job no matter where they placed.  I also want to congratulate the parents for getting through it, and making sure they completed the project.  Y'all did a great job!

  We started our night at the Southeastern Ag Center with our Rabbit show.   We had two competitors in our Jr. Division.  Ian Malloy and Cam Pittman took the ring.  Our judge for the night, Tony Bullard, examined the rabbits and talked with the competitors.  Both rabbits were in good health and our judge said it was very obvious that both participants had taken care of their animals.  Both were knowledgeable on the breed and were able to articulate what they had done to taken care of their rabbits.  After everything came down to the end the judge awarded Ian Malloy first place and Cam Pittman second.

  Next up was our laying hen show.  This year our participants raised Golden Laced Wyandottes for laying hens.  The received them when they were just a few days old and they have done an excellent job.  As you can notice they are similar sizes and all of them have done their best to keep them in a happy and safe environment.  In this division we started with our Cloverbuds, our youngest members ages 5-7.  This is a non competitive division.  Each youth gets experience raising and showing their animal before they start competing at age 8.  In the ring tonight was Jase Chavis,  Granger Herndon, Meredith Hodge, Bradleigh Norton, and Addie Shooter.   Helping our cloverbuds in the ring were senior showmen, Maggie Love and Lee Pate.  With our Seniors they help our youth get to and from the tables and make sure we don't have any animals escape.  They all had a chance to tell the judge about raising their animal and told him if they had gotten any eggs yet.  They did a wonderful job keeping control of the birds in the ring and you could tell how proud they were of these animals.  

Next up it was time for our Jr. showmen.  Entering the ring with their chickens were; Syler Forbis, Emma Herndon,  Walt Malloy, Jahari Roberson, and Jackson Shooter.  In this competitive division the placing is based on the showman and the bird quality.  When it was all said and done Walt Malloy took first place, Emma Herndon took second, and Jahari Roberson took home the third place win.  

   Finally rounding out the night was our turkey show.  The youth participating in the turkey show receive their polts from the state at just a few days old.  Their best bird goes to the state fair and generally their second best bird comes to the Robeson Show.  However this year our show was the day before weigh in at the state fair so we had them bring their best bird, weighed them (they need to weigh at least 15 pounds to show at state this year), and after the show we loaded them up to deliver to state for weigh in and the subsequent state show on Thursday.  Our birds weighed in at almost 15 pounds to almost 24 pounds this year.  They were good sized Toms that they had raised over the course of 4 months.  

In our cloverbud division we had Addie Shooter.  Addie showed a 23 pound bird with spotting by a senior showmen, but primarily on her own.  To show a turkey you hold them upside down so the judge can feel the breast, wings, and will feel the legs and thighs all for meat and fat quantity.  Addie did a fantastic job and received a ribbon for her efforts.  

Up next was our Jr Division.  Jade Brown and Jackson Shooter entered the ring with their turkeys.  What many people don't realize is that turkeys are hard to raise.  You have to teach them to drink, you have to protect them from predators, and they have a tendency not to be really smart so you have to think outside the box to make sure they don't injure themselves.  In talking with both Jade and Jackson our judge felt like they had done their very best and had learned a ton about turkeys.  In the end however he awarded Jackson the first place ribbon and Jade second.  

In our senior division we had Maggie Love and Lee Pate going head to head.  Their birds were less than a pound apart making this decision difficult for the judge.  When it was all said and done he awarded Lee first and Maggie second place.  In my opinion everyone one of our 4-H members walked away a winner.

If you would like to see all of our photos from the show please click this link.  If you are interested in being a part of this program please contact Wendy Maynor at wrmaynor@ncsu.edu.