By: Betty Gandee
The Clay County CERT Volunteer Services have been busy. They organize everything from litter cleanup to distributing face masks, as well as recognizing other groups in the Clay County area who put their community first. This group has made a big difference in Clay County.
Many individuals and groups have joined forces with CERT, including Deliciously Vivid, which promotes the beautification and tourism for the town. Initially their focus was on murals, but they have taken it a step further and have put on festivals, gun shows, Christmas celebrations, parades, and so much more.
Here are just a few spotlight-worthy volunteers:
Clay County resident Renee Moore, of Renee’s Fabric, has made over 855 masks for those in need.
Julia Wolf started fostering cats in 2014 and over the past five years has started slowly on lowering the feral cat population with a Trap, Neuter and Release program. Raffling off items and doing fundraisers to help with this cause, Julia hopes to continue to join forces with the CERT program to get the experience needed to aid in her rescue attempts and inform others on the importance of aiding these feral cats.
The Clay County Mud Runners also started as a small group of friends with the willingness to help. They now provide assistance to those in a time of need, no matter the circumstances. This group raised over $100,000 in funds and materials to help their fellow community members facing rough times.
Recently, the CERT program visited the Lizemore Fire Department to demonstrate how to administer oxygen to your pets. Not only did Aiden Taylor, CERT founder, demonstrate how to do this, he also donated the pet saving mask to put on the fire departments truck.
