Katzie First Nation and the City of Pitt Meadows will be purchasing thousands of dollars in new emergency supplies thanks to a grant they received through the province’s Community Emergency Preparedness Fund.
The communities were awarded $36,000 as part of a joint Emergency Support Services, ESS, grant.
Money from the grant will be used to fund emergency mass care and group lodging supplies for the Katzie First Nation and the City of Pitt Meadows. It will also go towards an additional emergency trailer and supplies so that emergency response can be more efficiently distributed in the event of a crisis.
“Funding supports like this are enormously helpful to increase ESS emergency response capacity in Pitt Meadows,” said Mayor Bill Dingwall.
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“We are grateful to work collaboratively with the Katzie and know this joint grant will go a long way to help ensure the safety of both of our communities,” added Mayor Dingwall.
The City and the Katzie First Nation currently collaborate on the ESS program, with the goal to have independent ESS teams and resources in the future.
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Katzie First Nation Chief Grace George was proud of all the work to date to improve emergency planning and preparedness. “Our goal is to ensure our communities can function independently or collaboratively in the event of an emergency, and this grant will help get us closer to that goal,” she said.
The ESS program is administered by local governments with the help of local volunteers to provide essential short-term resources to residents in the event of an emergency like a house fire, flood, or earthquake.
Supports can include food, clothing, group lodging, family reunification, emotional support and more, depending on the scale of the emergency.
The Community Emergency Preparedness Fund is designed to support local communities’ capacity to provide emergency support services.
For more information about Pitt Meadows ESS, visit pittmeadows.ca/ess.
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