Donate to the Fairfax CERT Association
The Fairfax CERT Association, as a 501C(3) charitable non-profit organization that depend on your generosity to help fund programs that engage our outstanding volunteers supporting community events and non-profit activities and allow CERT to exercise our response skills.
Our largest program is providing emergency response training for people from every part of the county (and occasionally from neighboring jurisdictions that don't have a CERT program). Since 2006 we have trained nearly 4,300 people in CERT skills. We have a CERT membership list of around 1,800 CERT trained responders and nearly 850 dedicated active CERT trained volunteers.
As an affluent county just outside of Washington, DC, our residents are in the cross-hairs of many threats. So we cannot take a break to enjoy our great success. We must keep working to bring the concept of preparedness to everyone.
In 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic raging, County Supervisors turned to the CERT Program for help with distributing food to those hit hardest by the cut back in economic activity. Our CERT volunteers stepped up to plan and work 35 (and counting) food distribution events. Through those events we delivered nearly two million pounds of food directly to those in need.
It is clear that we must train more volunteer responders. We must also develop our capability to respond to a greater variety of needs. We must continue to train CERT members and equip the CERT Program to improve our readiness to meet unexpected needs. We are looking beyond our current training methods to build our community teams with training right in their communities with a mobile training platform operated by our dedicated volunteer instructors.
We are so fortunate to have access to highly trained and incredible volunteer instructors and training staff. Many of them donate hundreds, if not thousands, of hours each year in support of our mission and goals. But we need more than just their hours. We need the equipment and gear required to meet the expanding new missions we are being called upon to support. Additionally, the FEMA grant which helped found this program has expired and not been renewed. Now, more than ever, we need your continued generous support. Thank you so much for considering supporting our efforts!
