On the last weekend of April, AARBF was so honored to be invited to the City of Monrovia’s 2024 Public Safety/Sensory Friendly event for Autism Acceptance, celebrating families and providing a nurturing, safe, and fascinating way to relate to first responders and community service partners. Monrovia Police and Monrovia Fire & Rescue made a great day for everyone. We were there with our N.I.C.K. program of picture-reinforced fire and burn safety messages for those who don’t always do well with written and verbal learning. This program, developed with the experts at Pyramid Educational Consultants, makes sure everyone can learn and affirm important safety messages like Stop, Drop and Roll, Cool a Burn for 5 minutes, and if there is smoke in the room Get Low and Go. We also got to meet Trixie, the three-legged therapy dog, who knows how to and demonstrated Stop, Drop and Roll!

May 4 was Wildfire Preparedness Day, but for those of us in California, we know that Wildfire Preparedness is a 365-day-a-year opportunity. One of the most important pieces of a preparedness plan is to have your “Go Bag” or emergency kit ready to grab. In your go bag, you want to focus on the “Four Ps”– that is items for People & Pets; Papers (important documents, passports, etc); Phone (and phone numbers); and Prescriptions (medicines, vitamins, eyeglasses/contact lenses, and any medications for your animals, as well). In addition to the Four Ps, you want a paper map with at least two evacuation routes marked (in case there is no cellular or WiFi service), 3-day supply of non-perishable food and water for each person and animal, extra car keys, credit cards and cash, first aid kit and sanitation supplies, change of clothes including closed toe shoes. If all this is pre-packed in an easily grabbable duffel or backpack, you will be able to face a wildfire (or any evacuation emergency) with much more confidence and peace of mind. Click here if you’d like to see more resources for wildfire preparedness.

New Counselor Training (NCT) 2024, was packed with silly, high-energy twenty-three amazing new counselors coming into our Champ Camp family this year.

We participated in training through team building exercises, handbook overview, counselor/ camp expectations, camp/facility tours, campfire with skits, and learning songs.

We are happy to introduce you to our new counselors for 2024:

Taro, Baymax, R2, Shiba, Bruno, Mater, Trebel, Flaka, Mac n Cheese, Sunkist, Chilla, Tyde, Ultra Violet, Sunny, Mijo, Ginger, Wasabi, Berrie, Jiu Jeddie, Cinnamon, Sinker, Squirrel and Spaghetti.

If you plan to be enrolled in the 2024/25 academic year at a Trade School, Junior College, or University, it is not too late to apply for a financial scholarship through AARBF’s “Bridge to Life” Scholarship offered by the Woody and Louise Reed family to support burn survivors and their family members pursuing higher education.

Applications are closing on June 30, 2024: https://forms.gle/HCaBGdzJeqz3qvxu8

And if you are pursuing a master’s degree or PhD, you can use the same application to apply for the “Aiming Higher” scholarship for burn survivors, sponsored by Care Plans for Life, LLC.

And if the application get sticky for you, your Care Managers, Martha and Michael, are always ready to help.

Because of the traumatic nature of a burn injury, it is common for burn survivors to experience flashbacks and nightmares.  As they go through the physical and emotional impact of the injury, burn survivors may experience feelings of depression, anxiety, body image, social isolation, withdrawal from relationships, low self-esteem, and chronic pain, just to mention some. Also, some burn survivors may deal with grief and loss and survivor’s guilt due to the loss of a loved one during the accident.

There are different techniques, coping skills practices and self-care strategies burn survivors can practice to help manage and improve some of the mental health symptoms during recovery, such as relaxation techniques, mindfulness, stress management, and more.  AARBF can support you through your recovery journey. Let us know how we can help. At AARBF, we have the following services available: Peer Support, virtual and in-person support groups, therapy grants, retreats, and more. Please contact one of our Care Managers today at mbanks@aarbf.org or mknopf@aarbf.org.

Spring is in full bloom and all the plants and shrubs and trees are pushing all their energy into explosive growth. This is the perfect time to keep things trimmed and tidy and be sure you always maintain a defensible space for wildfire safety. Vegetation management to reduce fire risk is not hard, but you will want to keep it up. Zone 0 is from the walls of your structure out 5 feet, and the goal is to keep this as an ember-resistant zone. Think about hardscapes–using gravel, pavers, or concrete instead of mulch that can catch fire and burn quickly. Clear out dead weeds and grasses, keep branches and bushes trimmed 10 feet back from chimneys, and store firewood farther away from the home, not stacked against the wall. Just keeping an eye out for safety might inspire you to make some great new landscape choices. Remember, wildfire season is year-round.

If you’d like to see more resources for wildfire preparedness, visit our website at https://www.aarbf.org/wildfirepreparedness/

Did you know applications for all of our 2024 overnight retreats and camps are open? To find events, details, dates, and the link to the application, click here for our camps and recreation page.

We have a new schedule for our support groups. Please click here to see what has changed for 2024.

Or, contact us at info@aarbf.org for more information.

July 4: All AARBF Offices will be closed