The Greater Kirkland Citizen Corps Council announced the first recipients of the newly created Christina E. Brugman Grant this week.

The grants are awarded to individuals and groups whose projects support the mission of building a safe, resilient community by helping coordinate disaster response preparedness efforts of local leaders, community groups, citizen volunteers and the Kirkland Office of Emergency Management by harnessing the power of involved citizens.

The three recipients are:

· EvergreenHealth was awarded $1,400 to help fund the implementation of the Stop the Bleed national training model on the Eastside. The program instructs residents, who are often at the scene before first responders, on how to stop massive bleeds. Classes will begin in the fall.

· Norkirk Supplies for Emergency Response, a local effort of the Norkirk CERT team and Lake Washington Christian Church, was awarded $750 to purchase a cache of disaster response equipment and supplies in order to support Norkirk being a prepared and resilient neighborhood.

· Joy Tjoelker, a local CERT volunteer, was awarded $140 to purchase flagging and traffic control equipment in order to give her and other CERT volunteers who are trained in traffic management the tools needed to relieve police officers for more important duties in an emergency.

Funding for the grants comes from donations raised by the Greater Kirkland Citizen Corps Council with matching funds from companies such as Microsoft, Boeing and Google. The maximum amount awarded is $1,500 per applicant.

This grant is named in honor of Christina Brugman in appreciation for her untiring devotion to promoting emergency preparedness in the City of Kirkland.

The council plans to award the grants twice a year and will dedicate a total of $5,000 each year to recipients. The next deadline is Oct. 10, and awards will be announced two weeks later.

For more information or to apply for this grant, visit kirklandcert.com.

This is taken from a City of Kirkland news release.