As year 4 of the Everyone Goes Home® program of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation winds down, I am compelled to write a few words to summarize and thank. This year has been a great experience for me as I have learned a great deal about the Everyone Goes Home® program and the commitment that many have to its most simplistic mission - reducing line-of-duty deaths (LODD). I continue to meet many people with a passion to work towards the needed improvement regarding the LODD record within the United States fire service. While we are no where near our intended goal, I remain encouraged by our increased outreach and the growing awareness of the 16 Life Safety Initiatives. Clearly, progress is being made though we still have a ways to go. I continually remind myself of two things - we can't change the statistics overnight and we can't get complacent. Continued diligence is needed to send our message to more and more firefighters.
In the past year, there were many successes that will have a positive impact in the coming years. The Safety Summit held in Emmitsburg in March received great reviews by all the attendees. This year's training kit will be mailed to every department in the U.S. in mid-July. It is full of great training aids designed to address the areas most affecting firefighter safety. It will also be featured in the opening session of Firehouse Expo in Baltimore. The advocate program continues to learn and grow as it works toward developing a stronger grassroots effort to reach every firefighter with the Everyone Goes Home® message. The Courage to Be Safe(sm) program and our website both receive strong support and offer great resources to firefighters everywhere.
There are other components of the Everyone Goes Home® program, but none would be significant without the dedicated team members who work tirelessly on behalf of the program and National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. I especially wish to thank the following:
- Chairman Dennis Compton and the entire Board of Directors for their support and direction.
- Executive Director Ron Siarnicki for his guidance, leadership, and passion.
- Charles Jaster and Becky Nusbaum for their knowledge of the budget and commitment to the program and their patience with me.
- George Haddow and Jane Bullock for their unique perspective on the program.
- Billy Hayes for his leadership with the advocates program.
- Bob Colameta for his dedication to the Courage to Be Safe(sm) program.
- Jenni McClelland for her outstanding work with the website.
- Chief Shadd Whitehead for his stewardship of this year's kit.
- All the advocates for their contributions.
- The entire staff in Emmitsburg and Crofton. They are all extremely dedicated to the cause and always willing to help.
- Lastly to Linda Stone for keeping me on track and focused.
There is no doubt that I have missed someone but I hope that everyone knows how appreciative I am. I am hopeful that we will be successful with our year 5 grant application and continue with our work.
Sincerely,
Rich Marinucci
Everyone Goes Home® Program Manager