Governor Schwarzenegger is opened for the first-in-the-Nation Disaster Corps

Friday, 06/25/2010   Print Version |

Good morning. We've got good volume this morning. The Los Angeles Fire Department welcomes you to the launch of the California Disaster Volunteer Corps.I'd like to acknowledge a few of the attendees today who are here to support the California Disaster Volunteer Corps. First, I'd like to acknowledge the governor of the great state of California, the Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Applause) Secondly, I'd like to acknowledge the California Secretary of Service and Volunteering, Ms. Karen Baker. (Applause) Also, I'd like to acknowledge the Secretary of the Emergency Management Agency, also known as Cal EMA, Mr. Matt Bettenhausen. (Applause)Now from our local family, one of the first people I'd like to acknowledge is our chief of police, Chief Charlie Beck. (Applause) Also, I don't see -- oh, there she is -- I'd like to acknowledge our deputy mayor of homeland security and public safety, representing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Ms. Eileen Decker. (Applause) Also I'd like to invite our director of the Emergency Management Department, Jim Featherstone -- would you come up? (Applause) And a person who has made this event possible and the volunteer corps -- his people have worked very closely with the state -- from Deloitte, Mr. Jim Moffatt. (Applause) And representing Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman from the Los Angeles County Fire Department we have Chief Deputy John Tripp. (Applause)It is exciting to be part of and to support Governor Schwarzenegger's initiative to create opportunities for everyone to volunteer their time, effort and passion in all phases of emergency management. Volunteering is a noble calling. In every major disaster volunteers emerge to do initial search, rescue and first aid. We all must prepare to be self-reliant for the first 72 hours immediately following a disaster. The California Volunteer Disaster Corps members you see before you have taken volunteering and preparedness to the next level. California Volunteer Disaster Corps members have committed to becoming fully integrated into the state's emergency management system. Through standardized training and certification these volunteers will serve as a valuable resource that can be called upon to collaborate with fire service, law enforcement, emergency managers and the business community to support California's mitigation, response and recovery efforts.While the fundamental responsibility for preparedness lies with every individual, it is important for the community and government to work together to increase our response capability. Programs such as Los Angeles's internationally recognized Community Emergency Response Team, CERT and now the California Disaster Volunteer Corps, a first of its kind, will ensure California is disaster ready.So the Los Angeles Fire Department applauds the volunteer spirit and encourages everyone to take action and volunteer.Now I'd like to invite to the podium our governor. (Applause)It's not often that I have to pull the mike down after I get to the podium. God. But anyway, it's great to be here today and I want to say thank you to you for your wonderful words and also for your nice introduction. And I also want to say thank you to Secretary Karen Baker and Secretary Matt Bettenhausen. And Sheriff Baca is supposed to be here -- is he here already? Oh, he's coming, he's on his way. He got stuck in traffic. We've got to build more roads. (Laughter) Then Fire Chief Peaks, of course, we want to thank him again and L.A. Police Chief Beck and then Chief Tripp from the L.A. County Fire. And then Jim Moffat from Deloitte, thank you -- it's a great example of the public-private partnerships we have. And Chief Hutchinson from Cal Fire and Jim Featherstone, who is a great, great leader in this area and a big believer in volunteers. So there are a lot of people and there are a lot of people that are not on my card here.And,  of course, the volunteers out here and the fire officials, firefighters, law enforcement, sheriff, everyone that is here today behind me and in front of me and the media, for coming out here because they are very important in sending this message to the people. And I also want to thank all the people that have displayed out there all the different things that they are doing and what this is all about. And I want to thank also the actors who did such a great job in acting out their wounds (Applause) and their injuries and their sufferings and everything. I heard them moaning and groaning and all kinds of things over there. I said to myself, "That takes me back to my acting days," (Laughter) with all the special effects and stuff like that. So that was really, really great. Exactly, exactly.But anyway, the bottom line here is -- and they gave me a speech and I'm not going to even use the speech, because I think that the bottom line here is this: We have in California more volunteers than any state in the nation. (Applause) And that automatically means the most in the world, because whatever is the best in the nation automatically -- since we are the number one nation and the most powerful nation and the richest nation -- we're number one in the world. And that's what makes California so unique, that we are number one in so many different areas. I mean, if you think about that there are seven million -- to be exact, 7.1 million volunteers in California. Now, just to show you how big that is -- (Applause) the county that I was born in, Austria and that I grew up in, has a seven million population. So this country of Austria, the amount of population they have, that's how many volunteers we have in this state. So it's really extraordinary, when you think about it.But what I did was, when I came into office, was not that we expanded this. But I always was a fanatic about coordinating and perfecting, because we have great things in California but there are some things that are not functioning as well as they should. And I felt that when we have 7 million coordinated, that's power, that's unbelievable power. And this is why I was the first one, the first governor to create an office, especially within my office, that is for volunteering and service and I was the first governor to appoint a secretary of volunteering and service. (Applause) Now other states are following.And the mission was, of course, for Karen Baker, our secretary, to go and to start coordinating and to create a website, because we knew there are more than 5,000 organizations, volunteer organizations, more than 5,000. But I said, "Do they talk to each other?"I found out no, there is sometimes a turf war; this is my organization, this is my area, don't come into here, into my territory. Well, that's not how you win battles, when you fight within. So I said, "Let us all create a website where we have all of those organizations on there and they start talking to each other and coordinating, because that is where the power is." And this is exactly what Karen Baker has done.And we wanted to do this because throughout the years since I have become governor I have recognized the enormous power that they have and the great service that our volunteers do. But after every disaster, if it is a fire or if it's an earthquake or a mudslide or whatever it may be, we immediately analyze afterwards, what was the work that was done and how can we do better?And one of the things we recognized right away was that we need to train certain volunteers for specific things. Like we had an oil spill -- you all remember that. Secretary Bettenhausen was right there, we went to the Bay Area where the oil spill was. A ship ran into a bridge, oil was spilling out. And we found out that 4,000 volunteers turned out within hours and wanted to clean the oil spill, wanted to clean the beaches -- 4,000. But they were all turned away, with the exception of a few and we found out that it was because they were not trained to clean the oil spill. They didn't have the gear, they didn't have the gloves, they didn’t have anything, so therefore they couldn't help.So we said, "Well, this is the last time that ever is going to happen." So we trained a certain amount of people to be experts in cleaning up oil spills. But then we said, "Well, wait a minute, that was just an oil spill. What about if there is a fire? Do we have the right people, do we have them trained so they can really assist the fire department?" And then we started training them. And then with earthquakes, we started training people in that. Emergency services of all kinds, we started training people for that. And this is what we saw here today, the creation of 1,000 members of this California Volunteer Disaster Corps. That's what we wanted to do. We wanted to pull together, because that is power.And it was so wonderful for me to walk through here and to see that the firefighters, the professionals -- which by the way, we have the best firefighters in the world, without any doubt. (Applause) So they were totally comfortable to have a body lying underneath this wooden beam and volunteers were jacking up the wood, that beam, so they can rescue that person underneath. They feel totally comfortable with them. I watched their eyes and I watched their movements and everything and it was this great coordination.That's exactly what we want to do, because when there is a major disaster we are not going to have enough firefighters. We're going to have to rely on volunteers to help when there is an earthquake or whatever it may be. So we want to be -- this state, because we are disaster prone, we want to immediately jump into action. Not what you see in the Gulf with the oil spill but immediate action in solving the problem. That is where the action is. And as you have heard the fire chief just say earlier, the first 72 hours, or the first 24 hours, the first 48 hours, what do you do during those times? How can the community come together?So this is what this is about. This is training, training, training, because I believe in mileage, I believe in reps. I come from sports; it's all about the more often you do something the better you get. And I believe in a slogan that came from the British army and then was adopted by the marines, the seven Ps; Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance. (Laughter, applause) The seven Ps, remember the seven Ps. That's where the action is.So I am happy that today I saw all of this proper prior planning. And it's going to pay off, ladies and gentlemen. So thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause)And next I want to have come out Secretary Karen Baker, who is doing a fantastic job, to say a few words. Thank you. (Applause)Thank you so much, Governor. I don't have seven Ps, so let me just begin with that. I really am honored to stand here today. From day one, Governor, both you and First Lady Maria Shriver really recognized this unbelievable resource in California -- volunteers. This is a group, as you see before you and around you, of passionate, committed, caring, trained, talented folks that want to make a difference. They want to be there for California and they're here for you. Thanks for bringing it above the radar. Thank you so much. (Applause)I will never forget the day that you called me into your office after the Southern California fires and the Cosco Busan oil spill and you basically said, "Karen, we need a trained army of volunteers for disasters." And being the man of action that you are, you added, "So go create this." (Laughter) "Go out there. We're going to be the most disaster prepared state in the nation. Go do it. And by the way, there's no money for that. But get creative, you know?"And what I am here today to announce is that, Governor, it's arrived. It's here. I want you to look around. It's here. It's us. We are here. These are men and women that are ready to help our state. They are here to help our first responders during a disaster. This is the first-in-the-nation Disaster Corps. Big round. (Applause)And to each of you members of Disaster Corps, I just really want to thank you for your time, for your energy, for your dedication and commitment to this cause.Today we are officially launching the Disaster Corps, a cadre of 1,000 government-affiliated trained volunteers that meet these stringent training, typing, security background guidelines. In 2007, when the Governor first turned to me and it was time for our team to develop this program, we recognized that we needed the field of volunteers and local government to weigh in; this was not going to be a solution that was just cooked in Sacramento. So we went out and we had over 30 meetings throughout the state with all of you to help get your design ideas. It was truly incredible.And then we looked to the private sector and we said, "What company truly cares about disasters and volunteering and has the bench to help us develop a framework, the right framework, for this ground-breaking program?" And all the arrows pointed to Deloitte. We approached them and they responded with a resounding yes. And today I have to acknowledge the group from Deloitte. Jim Moffatt. (Applause) This is the first guy I spoke with and he bought in and he's like, "These are the kinds of initiatives we want to be a part of." Evan Hochberg, an incredible leader, a nation-leading president of their foundation and a very dear friend. (Applause) Dave Porges, a great commissioner of California Volunteers, has been very active in this. (Applause) And finally, I do have to shout out Julie Quinn. She was the lead for the Deloitte team. She was fantastic, worked with us hand in hand. So thank you, Julie. (Applause)So the Governor, as you may know, is a big fan and rightly so, of these public-private partnerships. And so with this three quarters of a million dollar commitment, of pro bono consulting from Deloitte, the great Home Depot Foundation, who I also want to do a shout out to, who said, "We're here for you to provide all the volunteer equipment you need," because that has to be able to be there. Let's give a round to Home Depot. (Applause) We were able to put this together and it's why we're here today.But we were lacking one other ingredient and that was strong leadership in emergency management. There are a lot of strong leaders in emergency management -- I didn't mean to say that. But I mean the strong investment, you know, frankly, at the top, for someone who would believe in the power of volunteerism, who understood their capabilities. And he answered the call. I'd like to acknowledge my friend and colleague, Secretary Matt Bettenhausen. Thank you so much. (Applause)Matt, I cannot thank you and the entire Cal EMA team -- and there are many people here that I want to thank -- for being engaged and visible through this process. You were at our side at every one of those 30 stakeholder meetings. Now, this is not typical, to have two Sacramento secretaries out in the field listening to California about how should this be built. I think that was an important and critical message to the field that we really did care. And we incorporated all of their ideas. That's why this is going to work.You also partnered with us so that volunteers were integrated into our state emergency plan. This is critical for the cementing of this idea. It's got to be in the plan. Without this type of extraordinary leadership this historic, nation-leading effort would have never gotten off the ground.And then it all got down to five counties, that were trailblazing counties that have always been believers in volunteerism, who said, "We're going to be the place where you start Disaster Corps in California. We're going to bring it statewide and you're going to start with our counties. We're in; we believe." I'm going to shout out -- and please cheer if you're from this county -- L.A. (Applause) (Inaudible) And there's a lot more of them than is represented but San Francisco. (Applause) And then our friends from Riverside who couldn't make it today but they are with us, they are (Inaudible) (Applause) So here we have -- oh there, I'm live -- here we have these five counties that are each going to be providing 200 volunteers. They're going to be part of this elite Navy SEALs of volunteerism. They're going to be trusted, they're professional, they're trained. They're going to be deployable.It's just an incredible day for us. I couldn't be more excited. And I do want to again thank the Governor for this vision. This is big thinking, this is out of the box. We're leading the nation once again. Thank you, Governor. (Applause)And now I'm going to turn the mike over to our advisor and our friend, Jim Moffat from Deloitte. (Applause)I'm glad the microphone came back, because I don't have the energy of Karen to yell like that. Good morning, I'm Jim Moffatt, National Managing Director for Deloitte Consulting. I’m very pleased to join as we celebrate the launch of California's new Disaster Corps. On behalf of the 5,000 people in California and the 45,000 people we have nationally and as a member of the Deloitte Board of Directors, I'd like to congratulate Governor Schwarzenegger, Secretary Baker, Secretary Bettenhausen, for this significant achievement on this wonderful occasion.Now, more than two years ago I met with Karen and her team in the San Francisco office and I tell you, the passion, the energy, the enthusiasm, is what sucked me in. It was exactly as she said. (Laughter) This is something we want to be part of. This is powerful; it's going to have a great impact. And we knew we had a unique chance to help create something that was vital to the people of California. I’m a native Californian; I understand how important being able to respond to these kind of disasters really is.We also knew that, if we got the design right, this was a model that could be used for the rest of the nation. We talked about it in that initial meeting. The launch of the California Disaster Corps is really a powerful demonstration of what can happen and be achieved through innovative collaboration.Now, at Deloitte, one of the things that we focus on is trying to leverage the skills and talents of our people to help nonprofits increase their effectiveness and their capacity. This is why we announced a three-year, $50 million program to provide pro bono services to nonprofit organizations that are addressing the most pressing issues facing our communities. (Applause)And Disaster Corps is the highest example of that commitment. It's a creative solution that, for the first time, fully integrates the efficient and effective power of volunteerism into the state's emergency management.Now, this integration could not have been possible without the broad support of the California Emergency Management Agency. To talk more about Cal EMA's support I'm pleased to introduce Cal EMA Secretary Matt Bettenhausen. But before I turn it over to Matt I'd like to once again thank the Governor for his vision and Karen and her incredible staff for all their energy, enthusiasm and everything that they brought to make today happen. Thank you. Matt? (Applause)Oh, come on, we've got to be more fired up than that. Good morning!That's what I like to hear. Secretary Baker, what a friend, what a partner. What a great day this is, so thank you for all that you have done and the work that we're going to do and have done together. And to my team at Cal EMA, the team at Cal Volunteers, I want to thank you all. This has been a great effort. No holds barred, Governor, as we worked through to get these things done and so thank you very much for your leadership and support. (Applause)Governor, I want to thank you for your leadership and your support in helping not only creating the first secretary of Citizen Service and Volunteerism in the nation in a cabinet secretary level, it's your support that you've had for preparedness. Unfortunately, we've been through too many disasters together. But one of the rewarding things for both of us when we go around to these disasters is to see all of you. When we were here at the Station Fire to see the CERT teams and the thousands of volunteers who were out there supporting our first responders, doing work from doing traffic control, radio interoperability, feeding, housing, sheltering. In the winter storms, Home Depot and all of you coming to the assistance of your neighbors and friends who had their homes damaged and needed help to be dug out. That's very rewarding, to see that. And then to be a part of this today, to lead the nation in the creation of the California Disaster Corps -- it really has been an honor and a privilege.I do have to admit my father just retired from 57 years in the volunteer service to the fire department -- he was a volunteer fire chief and fire marshal -- and my mom has volunteered, my uncles -- so my butt would be kicked if I wasn't supporting volunteers, wholeheartedly, by both mom and dad. So I get it, I understand it. And I love the work that you do, as you all know, as we've gone across the state, seeing you at disasters, seeing you at planning.How many of you come to our annual CERT Training Conference in Sacramento where we do the exercise? Let's hear it, come on. How many have been up there? (Applause)More Northern Californians, I think.We've going to have you all up there. But I want to thank the Governor for his leadership in looking at the entire picture of prevention, protection, preparedness, response and recovery. The Governor gets it, that not only do we have to "Exercise, exercise, exercise, Bettenhausen," that we have to do the training and bring folks together.Sheriff Baca, thank you for joining us, we appreciate it. (Applause) We were talking about your great volunteers who showed up for the Station Fire and helped us with the CERT teams, directing traffic and controlling -- phenomenal.And we talked this morning when we met together that, you know, this is -- the last time we were all together here was for the memorial service of firefighters Ted Hall and Arnie Quinones. And as we talked with the volunteers, Governor, it's very appropriate that we're here today and in their memory and in their leadership and in their sacrifice for serving and protecting Californians, that we're here today to move their legacy forward through your volunteerism, your leadership and your hard work. So to all of you, I want to say thank you. (Applause)Our mission is to continue to create a culture of prevention and preparedness here in California. And the Governor has gotten it. It's not only with volunteers; it's what we do with our first responders. It's the investments in the levees; it's the disasters that don't happen because you work to prevent things from happening. But we are prepared by doing great nation, world-leading work like this. We have the best firefighters, law enforcement, EMTs, across the board, are the best in the world. (Applause) We have a world-class mutual aid system, best in the world, for fire, law enforcement, Chief Baca, bringing people out to do the evacuations.But what we didn't have was the ability to take the talent of each of you and the volunteer organizations and local communities and create that into a statewide mutual aid system so that we could bring your resources and capabilities anywhere in the state. And indeed, thanks to the Governor's leadership -- California was never a part of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. When Katrina happened, so that we could quickly send our aid and assistance to Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, the Governor called down the legislation leaders and said, "We are going to pass this now." And it passed and California joined the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. And so now your capabilities are also going to be available for us to be able to deploy you nationwide in assistance when disaster strikes anywhere in California, indeed across the nation.As you know, the Governor created the Golden Guardian Exercise Program. It's the largest in the nation. Every year it gets bigger and better and you all have been an important part of that.So it was my pleasure to swear you in today to be part of nation-leading California Disaster Corps. It was my pleasure to make sure that we revised our statewide emergency plan to include specifically volunteerism. And Governor, that was another leadership on your part, to make sure that we did that. The federal government doesn't have an emergency support function that is included in their national response framework but here in California we created a specific emergency support function in our Emergency Plan to make sure from the bottom up, from the local level to the county level to the regional level to statewide, we're including and incorporating your talents because we know when disaster strikes we need you.So, a pleasure to have sworn you in. Can we give the Governor a little "You, me, we," here? (Applause) I want to hear it loud and proud, to show how we are all in this together here in California. You, me, we! (Applause)Let me introduce from L.A. County Fire Chief Tripp. Thank you. (Applause)Today I'm here representing Chief Freeman. And with Secretary Bettenhausen, thank you for the recognition of Ted and Arnie. Today is the memorial, the national memorial celebration in Buffalo, New York, for the correction guards and correction officers that have given their lives in the line of duty, so Chief Freeman with Kathy Hall and Lori Quinones is in Buffalo, New York today.Again, Governor, thank you. Secretary Baker, Secretary Bettenhausen, thank you for this recognition of volunteerism. Our fire department was founded 90 years ago and, believe it or not, the fires were still in the hills and they were coming down into the community. And there wasn't an organized fire department; there were volunteers that stepped up and put their life on the line to save people's lives and people's homes. That commitment, that type of involvement of volunteers has been a big part of our history and now we're very proud of the fact that we still support that with our Community Emergency Response Teams.Some of the recent disasters -- one disaster that we had a few years ago was where we had a runaway train that actually derailed and took out a number of homes. And a little bit of by the grace of God there was nobody that was seriously hurt but the families had to go to the hospitals for those that did have minor injuries.With that, we were faced with a challenge that we had a number of homes that were completely destroyed but were still full of their life possessions. So we activated the Commerce CERT Team. We had over 50 volunteers come out, leave their families, went into those homes and gave that caring and that commitment of taking everything they had in those homes, put them in trucks and they were able to be stored in warehouses.That same type of involvement with our volunteers has occurred disaster after disaster. And as said today, we benefitted during the tragic Station Fire of people leaving their families, without compensation and giving to others. There's a lot of talk sometimes about us being the professionals and how commendable it is that we put our life on the line. But the real sense of duty and of commitment and to leave your families and not have any compensation for it -- that's one of the most honorable callings that anybody can give. And I just want to say thank you to all the volunteers that are here today. (Applause)Like Matt, I wouldn't be here standing in front of you if it wasn't for a volunteer. My dad, when we lived in Connecticut, was a volunteer firefighter and my grandfather was a volunteer firefighter in New York. So that spirit of volunteerism is alive in a lot of us that are professionals today. So again, thank you for that. (Applause)And now I'd like to just say again, thank you to the secretaries, thank you to the Governor, for this type of support and this type of commitment. Thank you again. (Applause)And now I'd like to bring up one of the finest police chiefs that we've seen. We saw his leadership last week when we had a big of a challenge downtown. (Laughter) Chief Charlie Beck. (Applause)Thank you, Chief Tripp. And thank you to our great Governor for his leadership and vision in making sure that this state can be as safe as it can possibly be, because there are a couple of things that you know when you're a lifelong resident of California:  One is that the weather is always beautiful; two, that there will be a natural disaster and occasionally, as the Chief said, a manmade one; and three, that the resources that the state and the local municipalities and the county have will not be able to cope with them without help. And so oftentimes we go to our federal partners for help but more importantly, we go to you.And I think that this is the best example, the best example possible, of what government is really about, because we are of the people. And that is my commitment to you, is that the Los Angeles Police Department, all my other great partners in law enforcement and the fire service, will work with you every day to make this state safer, to allow us to recover from disaster and make this the golden place that it should be.So now I'm going to bring forward a great partner of mine, a great mentor of mine and the sheriff of the largest county sheriff's department in the United States and that's Sheriff Lee Baca. (Applause)Thank you very much, Chief Beck. I want to echo what has been said and then say a few more things and then hopefully we can move into a more relaxed environment before we have our own disaster here. (Laughter)Our Governor is not only a great leader but his consciousness about public safety existed long before he became governor and his commitment to what we, as a society in California, can do to be better is not going to be surpassed, no matter what. And I thank you, Governor, for coming back home to Los Angeles, where you live, to share your support for what we've been doing to build a stronger state and a stronger county.Matt, thank you for your great work. It's a tough job that you have. Charlie Beck said it; clearly, we will have the predictable next earthquake, fire, even floods and sadly, train wrecks. The task, however, is clear. When you remember 9/11, the first responders were people like you, those that survived and those that were seeking survival. It wasn't a firefighter and it wasn't a police officer; it was the average citizen closest to the problem.In my short 45 years in law enforcement -- (Laughter) I’m going to live to be 100, so it'll be short, it will -- the Governor is coming with me on that one. (Laughter) The truth is that all the earthquakes and all the fires and train wrecks that I've been involved in, the great inspiration was that, when the firefighters arrived or the deputy sheriffs or the Los Angeles police officers -- including the great Northridge Earthquake, which was harmful, wreaked a lot of death -- there were people like you, who were so busy taking care of the obvious, handling what could be handled, handling setting up centers where relief could occur, handling the operations before the officials arrived.And the great part about our county fire system and our county law enforcement system and our state system and even our federal system, is that one thing I think our nation has done is it's provided hundreds of millions of dollars to California, because we are the number one disaster state in the nation in the FEMA reality. The Federal Emergency Management Agency works with California more frequently in response to disasters than any other state in the United States. That's the blessing of the good weather. (Laughter)And the truth is that you, as individual citizens, as our Governor did before he was governor, chose to make a difference in a variety of ways, because it's the right thing to do. No law enforcement agency or no fire agency alone or group of them, can ever solve this problem alone. There are always many things to do. And I think that's why we're celebrating.Now, the sheriff's department has called upon 5,000 community members to join with us and have received training with our Community Emergency Response Team Program. And there are over 900 of those 5,000 who are volunteer disaster service workers, which means they've been trained to get right into the heart of the problem. And as a result, we've been able to incorporate the good will of good people. You don't have to wear a uniform to be a hero. All you have to do is be at the right place at the right time and take action.And we've got a Governor who knows how to take action and this is why we're all together in this. And I believe that in the scope of the future of California -- we were in fairly good shape before 9/11. We're in better shape because of our state getting involved with FEMA and all the federal agencies and now we've moved into another generation. And one of the great legacies of our governor and the state of the California is that we're at the strongest point that we have ever been in the history of the state of California. This is a big deal, right here, right now. (Applause)So in conclusion, one of the responsibilities the sheriff's department has is being the Mutual Aid Coordinator in Region One -- and you know all about that, you got trained on that -- and so we will go anywhere and anyplace in this great county or state or nation to help our fellow citizens in a time of disaster. And I couldn't be more proud, because of you. Thank you. (Applause)

Well, I don’t know about you but I'm a little warm. Are you a little warm? What we're going to do is I just want those that are volunteers with Disaster Corps to please stand, if you're not already standing on the risers. Stand, you'll get to air out a little bit. Let's give these folks our final round of applause. Thank you so much. (Applause) Please drive safely.