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FROM THE FOUNDER
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HARD TIMES |
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TIP Affiliates
are being affected by the downturn in
the economy just like other non-profit
organizations across the country.
Donations
are expected to be down significantly in
2009, and we are experiencing difficulties in recruiting and
retaining volunteers.
At the
same time, the need for TIP services is
increasing.
TIP
Affiliates are reporting a greater
demand to assist survivors of suicide and
increased domestic violence responses.
This is not surprising. The stresses
caused by the poor economy are causing
additional stress in the lives of
individuals and within families.
In short, TIP Affiliates will be asked to do more with
less in the next year or two. The good news is that TIP
Affiliates are "lean and mean" and are used to operating
on a shoestring budget. We are used to "living poor with
style."
Nevertheless, we will need to
adapt to a severe recession and find creative ways
of staying financially afloat.
Here are my ideas:
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We need to maintain the quality
of our core service. Our
ability to survive and thrive will depend more than
ever on our ability to "deliver the goods." We
need to re-double our efforts to support and nurture
our TIP "Volunteers who are the ones who deliver the
goods.
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We need to make the case to our
constituents and donors that TIP is needed more than
ever. The poor economy is throwing many families
into crisis and these families need our services.
Our country is in crisis, and TIP is in a unique
position to help.
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We need to stay close to our key funders.
Our current donors are the ones most likely to help
us navigate the downturn.
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We need to find creative ways
of cutting expenses.
For
example, perhaps we can have our fundraising dinners
in a hospital auditorium rather than in a hotel.
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Without being alarmists, we need
to show our TIP volunteers the "Big Picture." TIP
Volunteers are very resourceful and will help us if
they understand our needs.
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We need to stay positive.
There
are many people who support TIP who still have good
jobs (police, fire, hospital personnel) and the
capacity to help us.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of things we can
do to "weather the storm," and I welcome your ideas. I
am optimistic. Our Affiliates have survived other crises
situations and as an organization we are resilient.
By pulling together, sharing our
"Best Practices" and by staying true to our mission,
I
believe we will not only survive these hard times, but
we will find opportunities to become a stronger
organization.
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TIP of
Orange County Responds to Devastating
Fires
In mid-November,
Orange County was affected by
destructive fires which destroyed 100's
of homes in the Yorba Linda and Brea
areas. As in previous years, TIP of
Orange County was called into action.
Over a three-day period, TIP volunteers
were deployed to evacuation centers and
to neighborhoods to assist fire victims.
TIP
volunteers joined chaplains and
firefighters and broke into small teams.
Each team consisted of a TIP volunteer,
a firefighter and a chaplain. These
teams were tasked with assessing the
needs of victims, providing them with
information about their homes and
providing emotional support to victims
as they sifted through the rubble.
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According to TIP
volunteers, victims were very
appreciative.
TIP
volunteer Dixie Trace felt that
having teams representing Orange County
Fire Authority in the affected
neighborhoods was very
important.
"I
think it was very important that we
helped victims not only in the
evacuation centers, but also in the
neighborhoods as residents returned to
their homes.
Seeing
your destroyed home for the first time
is very traumatic,"
said Trace. |
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The experience of
assisting fire victims and spending time
in devastated areas had a tremendous
impact on TIP volunteers. TIP volunteer
Tonya Sandholm, who is new to
California, saw up close the terrible
reality of fires. "This
was an incredible up close look at the
destruction fire causes,"
said Sandholm.
"It
was really difficult to see the
blackened areas, to walk through what
was left of people's homes, and to see
dead birds and other pets,"
she added.
According to TIP
Crisis Team Manager,
Debbie Simpson,
TIP volunteers
really rose to the occasion to help
during the fires. "I'm
very proud of our volunteers,"
said Simpson.
"They
didn't hesitate to drop what they were
doing to help those affected by the
fire,"
she
declared.
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TIP volunteers
felt privileged to be a part of the
response teams organized by Orange
County Fire Authority, and other members
of the team appreciated TIP volunteers.
Chaplain
Jeff Hestchel believes that the help of
TIP volunteers was essential during the
fires. "We
worked together to provide emotional
support to many who had lost their
homes,"
expressed Hestchel.
"We walked
together through the ashes of people's
lives and helped them try to make sense
of this tragedy,"
he said. |
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2008 Annual Meeting a Success
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On November 6. 7 and 8, TIP
managers from across the country
convened in Orange County, CA to
participate in TIP National's
Annual Meeting. The primary
purpose of the meeting is to
give managers an opportunity to
learn about Best Practices from
each other. Managers have
reported that they returned home
with many new ideas they can use
to improve their TIP programs.
According to
Mandy Atkission,
Executive Director of TIP of San |
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Diego County, the annual meeting
rejuvenated her and gave her
many ideas she plans on
implementing.
"I came home with
a tremendous amount of material
and many great ideas,"
commented
Atkission.
"Even now, two months later, I'm
still implementing what I
learned at the Annual Meeting,"
she
continued. |
In
addition to sharing "What Works,"
managers listened to presentations from
outside speakers. Speakers included a
fire chief, police chief and a
physician. Feedback from TIP managers
after each speaker was "WOW."
Although there
was no official theme for the meeting,
the concept of excellence seemed to be a
common message.
"If I had to
summarize the underlying message of the
meeting, it would be to strive for
excellence. Many of the
speakers exhorted us not to rest on our
laurels but to continually strive to
improve and innovate,"
says Wayne
Fortin, TIP Founder.
The
2008 Annual Meeting was the 15th year
TIP National has organized an annual
meeting.
According
to
Lou Binninger,
Crisis Team
Manager of TIP of Yuba/Sutter/Butte
Counties, CA, all annual meetings have
been worthwhile and they continually get
better.
"I really like
coming to these meetings,"
said Binninger.
"This
meeting was especially worthwhile. It
was the best!"
he exclaimed.
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TIP Conducts
Emotional First Aid Course in Alaska
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On October 23-26th, TIP Founder
Wayne Fortin
and TIP National
Trainer
Heather Sergeant
traveled to Homer,
Alaska, to conduct a weekend
Emotional First Aid Seminar.
There were 23 attendees
including EMT's, sexual assault
nurses, teens, domestic violence
advocates and local residents.
Haven House, a local nonprofit
organization, sponsored the
seminar. Margaret Coleman, the
Executive Director of Haven
House, wanted her staff and
others in the community to have
core emotional first aid skills.
Ms. Coleman believes that
regardless of the type of
victims that helpers serve
(rape, domestic violence . . .)
helpers all need basic emotional
first aid skills.
Participants evaluated the |
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as "excellent" and reported that
it was a very worthwhile use of
their time. |
The trip to Homer was quite an adventure
for Mr. Fortin and Ms. Sergeant. Both
agreed that Homer is a beautiful place
with gorgeous views of Kachemak Bay and
snow-capped mountains and glaciers.
Although Homer is a relatively small
community, both trainers were very
impressed with the residents. According
to Wayne Fortin, the Homer residents who
attended the seminar were very committed
to helping others in the community.
"Homer is a place which obviously
attracts people who want to make a
difference," remarked Mr. Fortin.
According to
Heather Sergeant the trip was very
worthwhile. "The attendees at our
seminar really had a firm grasp of
emotional first aid by the end of the
seminar. I
felt we really established a knowledge
base in Homer upon which those who
attended our seminar will build,"
she stated.
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TIP
ANNUAL MEETING NEWPORT HARBOR CRUISE
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The Orange County
Chapter hosted this year's
TIPNational Annual Meeting
attended by various TIP leaders
from across the Country.
The first
day's evening social, on
November 6, was a Newport Harbor
cruise on the yacht, Endeavor.
Joining us
to welcome our affiliates were
Orange County TIP constituents
as well as San Diego and Orange
County TIP volunteers.
It was a
typical beautiful Southern
California evening and everyone
enjoyed the cruise and
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friendly
social exchanges. Click image to
view a short video of this
evening's event.
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SAN DIEGO ANNUAL POLICE MOTORCYCLE
COMPETITION
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The San Diego Motor Officers
Association held their annual
Police Motorcycle Competition on
September 11, 2008. Each year,
motor officers from around the
country come to San Diego to
compete in the obstacle courses.
This year, the SDMOA chose TIP
of San Diego to be the
beneficiary of all profits made
from the event. On November 3rd
at the Heroes on Scene event,
Bob Van Wulvan presented TIP
with a $5,000 check, of which we
are all so grateful.
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HEROES WITH HEART DINNER
AND FUNDRAISING |
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TIP OF OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA
 
A memorial plaque was
presented by
TIP of
Okaloosa County, Florida
to Sheriff Charlie
Morris for Deputy Tony
Forgione who was killed
in the line of duty.
Many thanks to Diane
Conroy, Brenda
Cadenhead, Dianne
Tomlin, Linda Epperson,
Lynn Bowling, and Glenda
Newman who attended the
presentation.
The plaques
were designed by Brenda
Cadenhead and presented
by Diane Conroy.
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TIP OF SOUTHWEST
RIVERSIDE
On September 27, 2008,
TIP of Southwest
Riverside County held its
4th Annual Heroes With
Heart Awards Dinner at
the Pechanga Resort and
Casino in Temecula, CA.
The gala event raised
over $20,000 for the
Southwest Riverside
Affiliate.
| The Southwest Riverside
Affiliate honored 12
first responders as
Heroes With Heart. One
of the honorees received
the Top Firefighter
Award. This award is
given in the
name of the late
Philip
Armentrout who
was the Fire
Chief of
Murietta, CA.
Chief
Armentrout's
widow presented
the Philip
Armentrout Top
Firefighter
award to the
family of
Captain Matt
Moore who
unfortunately
died earlier in
the year.
Another one of
the evening's
honorees was the
recipient of the
Kent Kindergart Top Cop
Award. This award is
given annually
in memory of
Deputy Kent
Kindergart who
was the first
deputy killed in
the line of duty
in the S.W.
Riverside
region. Deputy
Kindergart's
widow presented
the Top Cop
Award to
Community
Services Officer
Miriam Shumway.
The evening was
very moving and
there wasn't a
dry eye in |
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CSO Miriam
Shumway , Lake
Elsinore Station
with
Lake Elsinore
Mayor Bob Magee
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the house when Chief
Armentrout's widow and
Deputy Kindergart's widow presented the
awards in their
husbands' memories. |
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According to
Gina
Magee, TIP of Southwest
Riverside County's
Crisis Team Manager,
over 240 people attended
the dinner. "It's
wonderful to see the
level of support TIP
received from the first
responder community,"
said Magee. "Their
compassion toward
citizens never ceases to
amaze me. When our
volunteers received a
standing ovation, you
could feel it was
genuine." she
asserted. |
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Top Firefighter
winner Murrieta
Fire Department
Captain Matt
Moore's widow,
Lisa Moore and
their 2 sons |
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TIP OF
PORTLAND/VANCOUVER
On October 30, 2008, TIP
of Portland/Vancouver
hosted its Annual Heroes
with Heart Dinner at the
Embassy Suites Airport
Hotel in Portland, OR. A
sellout crowd of over
400 people attended the
gala event.
This annual dinner is
not only a way of
recognizing emergency
responders, but it's
also TIP of
Portland/Vancouver's
major annual fundraiser.
According to
June Vining, TIP of
Portland/Vancouver's
Executive Director,
the event raised
a significant amount of
money in very creative
ways.
"We auctioned
a dog and it went for
$950.00!" said
Vining. "Also, the
230 bottles of wine on
our Wall of Wine sold
out in 30 minutes."
she added.
All in all, the 2008
Heroes With Heart Dinner
was definitely a WOW
event!
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On November 7, 2008 TIP of
Orange County held its annual 2008 Heroes With
Heart Dinner. Sheriff
Sandra Hutchens, the
honorary chairperson, welcomed over 350 TIP
supporters who gathered at
the Hilton, Costa Mesa.
The Heroes With Heart Dinner
honors police officers, firefighters, coroner
investigators and hospital
personnel who provide
compassionate support to victims of tragic
events. According to Wayne
Fortin, TIP Founder, TIP
volunteers nominate emergency personnel who they
witness going out of
their way to provide
kindness and caring to those whose lives have
been devastated.
"We want to
recognize those quiet behind the scenes acts of
kindness.
Those we recognized at
our
Heroes Dinner are really
unsung heroes. Although they do mostly small
things for people in crisis,
these acts of compassion
make a huge difference to those who are
experiencing the worst time in
their lives,"
conveyed Mr. Fortin.
 The dinner was TIP of Orange
County's major fundraiser and attendees
generously bid on silent
auction items and bought
raffle tickets for a chance to win a weekend in
Laguna Beach. The dinner
was sponsored by many
generous corporate sponsors including the
following major sponsors --- The Bender Family, Costa
Mesa Firefighters Association, Crime Scene Steri
Clean, Herzog
Contracting Corp, Lifestyle
Portfolios, Toshiba American Medical and ACLEM.
Of course, the dinner could
not have been a success without a very hard
working dinner committee.
The committee was chaired by
Sandy Hill and co-chaired by Barbara Amaya,
Kymber Hansen,
Stephanie Kallestad, and
Debra Kennard.
TIP is already planning next
year's Heroes With Heart Dinner. Stay tuned!
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"I'm
not really interested in how much you
love your neighbors. That's easy...I'm
interested in how well you love
strangers. It's that love for strangers
that will make you an educated,
literate, passionate, imaginative and
special human being."
---
Will Ferrell
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