SRC Seniors Helped by SPARC Program  

The Service Preparedness and Response Coalition, better known as the SPARC program, recently distributed two-hundred (200) survival backpacks to seniors of Santa Rosa County. The SPARC program is a service learning program implemented through Homeland Security and coordinated by both the Santa Rosa School Board and the American Red Cross with a partnership through Sheriff Wendell Hall and the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office. The program was designed to engage students in providing a community service as well as developing interpersonal relationships with senior citizens of the county. To accomplish this goal the students were challenged to perform several projects using the American Red Cross' Masters of Disaster Curriculum and the Florida Sunshine State Standards Curriculum. The students rose to the challenge by completing the following accomplishments:

(1)   Students from Sims and Holley-Navarre Middle Schools prepared the following:

    Prepared a "senior's emergency check list"

    Prepared a check list for pets

    Put together a family identification booklet

    Created three activity/coloring books for use in shelters

    Packed and distributed 200 emergency backpacks to seniors

    PSA's on preparedness with emphasis on seniors and pets

(2)   Students from King Middle School :

    The 7 th grade class was given a week long presentation by Deputy  Adam Teichner regarding K-9 training and usage in law enforcement. Upon learning the need for a protection vest for his dog, the students started a fund raising project. In the near future they will present the sheriff's office with the funds to purchase a vest for his canine.

One of the above mentioned activity books was based on the black bear that was confronted for raiding local trash cans several months ago and was eventually tased by a sheriff's office deputy. The students were also taught the importance of the ecosystem and how disasters can alter their environment.

The children received assistance and guidance throughout the entire project from a variety of sources in the community. One was Cindy Sarver who represented the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office and provided them with information on hurricane preparedness for seniors and pets while private citizens Andy and Isabel Fraysse of Navarre worked with them on preparing the Senior's Check List.

The entire project was funded through Homeland Security grants. Sheriff Wendell Hall stated that, "both safety of seniors and the safety of our youth are paramount to our community. The goals and objectives of the SPARC Program are aimed at providing seniors and young people with valuable knowledge of disaster preparedness. Helping our citizens to better prepare themselves helps to ensure everyone's safety in times of disaster."