6.4. SR 01-21-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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e; 4 UA _ Elk River Beyond The Yellow Ribbon To: Mayor John Dietz and Council Members Stewart Wilson, Paul Motin, Matt Westgaard and Barbara Burandt From: Steering Committee of the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Organization of Elk River Subject: Progress Report We are pleased to present a report the progress of the Yellow Ribbon Organization, organized to help military families and veterans of all wars, and particularly those deployed in the Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We have 186 National Guardsmen in the area, reservists and full-time service personnel who are members of five companies serving out of four armories: St. Cloud, Monticello, Cambridge and Anoka. We are handicapped without an armory and privacy laws in locating families who need our help. We are fortunate to have a National Guard Recruiting office in our community as a public information source. After preparing a plan through a 16-step process, Elk River Yellow Ribbon was certified and we had a certification ceremony last year, attended by among others, Governor Mark Dayton. We are grateful to Mayor John Dietz and Elk River Police Captain Ron Nierenhausen who have been excellent members of our Steering Committee. We are equally grateful for the city staff who have helped us in many ways, from the Police and Fire Department with Yellow Ribbon decals on their squad cars and fire trucks to those who erected the banners on poles along Highway 10. We are also grateful to our Steering Committee. In addition we have committees who have organized resources to assist military families. I want to emphasize community members have NEVER turned us down, because helping our veterans, particularly those who have been deployed and returned,resonates with their patriotism. I would be remiss if I did not commend Jim Boyle, editor of the Star News, for his cooperation and serving on the Steering Committee. I also want to commend Dick McCormick of the Faith Based committee who is leading the effort to have bi-monthly military family dinners hosted by churches. We've had four: Central Lutheran, Living Waters (2) and St. Andrews churches.