Bierman receives challenge coin for June 30 storm response
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By Todd Marver
Matt Bierman, Washington County EMA Director, received a challenge coin in the mail from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) Disaster Response Office on Tuesday, September 5 for the response to the June 30 storm.
In addition to being the Washington County EMA Director, Bierman is a Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) volunteer. Ross Johnson, LCMS Disaster Response Director, said after the derecho and straight line winds hit Washington County on June 30, Bierman was very helpful in letting Washington County residents know that there were LERT teams that would volunteer to help them by doing thousands of dollars worth of free chainsaw work. He said LERT teams cleared over 55 properties of Washington County homeowners who could not afford to pay thousands of dollars to clear trees out of their yards.
Johnson said all of the 40-plus LERT volunteers who helped in Washington County received a thank you letter, a commemorative sticker of the response work that they participated in in Washington County and a custom challenge coin as a token of appreciation for their exceptional volunteer work. He said a challenge coin is a small customized coin that is specially made and designed to commemorate a job well done, and challenge coins are often given as a thank you for exceptional service to the military, first responders and service volunteers.
Bierman said in a statement that the challenge coin belongs to every team member and all those that were involved behind the scenes. He thanked LCMS LERT teams for their time and sacrifice and thanked Trinity Lutheran Church in Nashville for feeding team members and giving them a place to stay and clean up.
Bierman said that after Hurricane Katrina, the LCMS was among many faith based organizations who realized the need for disaster response and aid, and he attended the first Disaster Conference at the Synod Headquarters in St. Louis and was witness to the birth of LERT. He said their mission is to help those in need in times of disaster and spread the word and love of God.
Bierman was appointed the Southern Illinois District of the LCMS Disaster Coordinator and he said his responsibilities include fostering LERT teams, assisting in their training and encouraging interest from communities.
As the Director at Washington County EMA, Bierman called upon LERT to assist in the county following the June 30 storm. He said working closely with his recently named LCMS Assistant District Disaster Relief Coordinator Bryce Kramer, they were able to mobilize teams from all throughout the area, and the local team, along with teams from Northern Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin were in the county within a matter of days with the first team starting on July 2, two days after the storm.
Bierman said within the week, multiple teams were on the ground, assisting Washington County residents with tree debris/removal at no cost to the homeowners. He said for two weeks, team members were able to help 56 families, and 80 trees over 30 inches and 180 trees under 30 inches were cut up and taken to curbs or other places on properties.
Photo caption: Pictured is the challenge coin that Bierman received.
