Thank you West Angeles Church for the honor of being apart of your service.

This past Sunday was Law Enforcement, Firefighter & Military Day at West Angeles Church of God in Christ. This day is an annual tradition for this cornerstone in the community on Crenshaw. Bishop Blake was very kind in his words, along with a host of members from the congregation who went out of their ways to not only show, but also articulate their appreciation. What also made this an extraordinary day is that not only was it a day set aside to say thank you, but many public service agencies had representatives and materials to inspire recruitment as well as the booth that I was apart of...CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). The very act of providing a place for me and my peers to promote empowerment, employment and preparedness illustrates the presence of the church in our community.
History shows us that in times of disaster, people will turn to the church for aid. Like the parable of feeding the multitude, providing a venue to speak to congregations allows for the "fruits of preparedness" to be shared with all communities. If you go to church, temple, mosque or to a synagogue, this information is for you. If you are agnostic or atheist, this information is for you. The Los Angeles Fire Department as well as the many CERT team volunteers does not care about what makes us different, but rather, how can we best serve our community in times of crisis and disaster (After a disaster, we are all the same). "I can give a man a fish and feed him today, or I can teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime". By teaching you what I know, I am teaching you to fish.
A special thank you goes to Ms. Kimberly Dyer (pictured above) for staying persistent and your follow up phone calls. I am very glad that we did not miss this great day.
For more information and to see what West Angeles Church is doing in South Los Angeles, click this link:
http://www.westa.org/