JEPP formed in late 2015. By May 2021, the group had held 45 meetings, and had organized countless bake sales, work parties, task-specific small team planning sessions, and outreach activities. Over the years its organizing committee has kept detailed accounts (agendas, minutes, ledgers, etc.) and at the end of each year Rae Leiper has published a brief summary of accomplishments. Click open any of the following "Highlights of the Year" reports for a glance at JEPP's work to date.
Click on this blue boldfaced heading, Highlights of the Year, 2016 to access a summary of accomplishments published at the end of what was effectively our first year in operation. In this first year we established as our group name, drafted an organizational chart describing roles, relationships, and responsibilities of JEPP, Joyce Fire Department, Joyce Fire Auxiliary, and Local Community
Organizations, and established the organizational structure for our group. Members conducted research about emergency management scenarios, about delegations of authority and more, and the group set about fund raising toward acquiring equipment, materials and supplies. It was an earnest and busy first year!
Click on this blue boldfaced heading, Highlights of the Year, 2017 to access a summary of accomplishments for that year. In this next phase, the group installed, insulated, roofed, painted and ran electricity to what would be come Conex 1 (our first cache), made plans for a second Conex container, completed constructing a customized water filtration trailer, secured grant money, engaged actively in educational outreach, created informational brochures, and held an Emergency Fair for the Joyce community. Another highlight was JEPP receiving FEMA's "Outstanding Individual and Community Preparedness (ICP) Award, Honorable Mention" and being recognized as a Community Prevention Champion.
Click on this blue boldfaced heading, Highlights of the Year, 2018 to access a summary of accomplishments for that year. Three years into the initiative, BBC came to film a documentary about JEPP’s project. and large crowds attended Jim’s presentations of “After the Quake” and “Camping in Your House." An Emergency Education Fair was held at the Elwha Reservation, a military field kitchen and a 10KW generator were donated to JEPP, a second water trailer was completed, and the JEPP website was updated and revamped to include more information about Cascadia preparations. Agreement was reached with the Joyce Bible church (JBC) to use its facilities in a disaster, JEPP agreed to help upgrade the JBC in the years ahead, and the Ben B. Cheney Foundation granted us $10,000 to be used for wiring and heating projects at JBC. The field kitchen was thoroughly cleaned and serviced, additional equipment and supplies were acquired and stored, and JEPP's partnership with CCFD#4 and the Clallam County EOC were strengthened.
Click on this blue boldfaced heading, Highlights of the Year, 2019 to access a summary of accomplishments for that year. Conex #2 was insulted, shelved and electrically connected, research regarding sanitation intensified, JEPP conducted mock up tours of the Joyce Disaster Shelter in late March for community members and one-hundred sixty Crescent School students. Window safety film was installed on all windows in the JBC gym and later in its fellowship hall. JEPP's website had logged 7,293+ hits by April. Shelter job bins were created and packed. JEPP acquired 733 pounds of medical and first aid supplies for the shelter from Medline. A Shelter Management Workshop was held in September. JEPP could now open a functioning shelter to feed and house up 300 people for a month in the event of a disaster.
Click on this blue boldfaced heading, Highlights of the Year, 2020 to access a summary of accomplishments for that year. Early in the year a concrete pad was poured for a new steel storage building and soon thereafter the building was delivered, erected, caulked, weatherized, secured and then loaded with JEPP's field kitchen, water filtration trailer #1, and portable generators. The pace of project work slowed in the months to follow and meetings were cancelled due to the COVID-19 shutdown and pandemic worries. The group's Sanitation Protocol writers met via Zoom to discuss and edit documents, a Client Guide to Sanitation was completed, 2,400 rolls of toilet paper were purchased and properly stored, and the fire department agreed to pay insurance for the storage building and Conex #2 behind the JBC. Considerable progress had been made in JEPP's five years of operation.