To the editor:

During the last week of September, the city of Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island Fire Department, Kitsap Regional Library, Bainbridge Island School District, Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park and Recreation District, Puget Sound Energy, the Bainbridge Island Rotary, the Resilience Guild and many community members partnered to bring the community Three Days of Preparedness. The event was a huge success. Hundreds of community members came out to learn about how they can prepare themselves, their families and their neighborhoods for a disaster.

Thank you to all of the community members that took the time to get involved in getting our community prepared. We’d like to especially thank the following individuals and organizations that made the event possible: Bainbridge Island Cinemas, Cameron Snow and Greg Geehan, Ann Lovejoy, Bob Fortner, Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management, American Red Cross, PAWS of Kitsap County, Jim Mattison, Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc., KiDiMu, Leslie Marshall and Herb Hethcote, Bainbridge Island Ham Operators, and the Bainbridge Island Community Emergency Response Team.

Three Days of Preparedness was a great catalyst to getting everyone on the island prepared, but what happens next?

The city of Bainbridge Island and Puget Sound Energy are working together to schedule a second viewing of the film. More details to come soon.

The city is currently working with the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management, Bainbridge Island Fire Department and community leaders to create a two-year strategic plan that will address individual preparedness, neighborhood preparedness, business preparedness and response agency preparedness.

But we also need every community member to get involved in being prepared. You can sign up for resilience classes at bainbridgeprepares.org, conduct a Map Your Neighborhood party with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, or visit the City of Bainbridge Island Emergency Preparedness page for more information on a variety of trainings being offered on the island.

Thank you for your continued involvement in working to prepare our community.

VAL TOLLEFSON

Mayor

Bainbridge Island