As a shout out to all of our supporters west of the Mississippi, the 36-Hour Giving Challenge is less than 48 hours away.  One of the incentive grants available to the 300 non-profits competing in this event is a bonus for those donations received online in the middle of the night here in Southwest Florida.  The 36-Hour Giving Challenge posted this:

The Giving Partner

Next week on Tues. March 5th at 7:00 am EST through Wed. March 6th at 7:00 pm EST support the Denise Amber Lee Foundation by participating in the 36-Hour Giving Challenge and help us reach our goal to raise $15,000 for 9-1-1 telecommunicator training scholarships.

This signature fundraising event is made possible by presenting partners Community Foundation of Sarasota County and the Patterson Foundation, with support from sponsors Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Manatee Community Foundation, Charlotte Community Foundation, and the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation.  Donations last year totalled $2.4 million dollars and originated from all 50 states and 24 countries.

The Denise Amber Lee Foundation has been selected to participate in this special opportunity with 300 other non-profit organizations as a result of their demonstrated non-profit industry best practices and completion of an extensive donor profile in the givingpartner.guidestar.org database.

To participate, go online on March 5^th and 6th to www.givingpartnerchallenge.org, search for Denise Amber Lee Foundation and make a secure, tax-deductible donation with your credit or debit card.   Early donors can increase their gifts through the nearly $650,000 up for grabs as matching and incentive grants doled out on a first come first serve basis for donations as low as $25.

Action Plan for Tuesday, March 5^th, at 7:00 AM EST through Wednesday, March 6^th till 7:00 PM EST:

• Share the message through e-mail or social media with friends, co-workers and family members who know how much you care for the cause of a better 9-1-1 system.
• Give online at www.givingpartnerchallenge.org   Look for Denise Amber Lee Foundation
•  Visit our profile on The Giving Partner site (www.thegivingpartner.org) to help us compete for a $5000 grant for the most visitors and learn more about the Denise Amber Lee Foundation (You don’t have to give a dime to make a difference)!

Denise Amber Lee Foundation Inspires Unanimous Vote at New Hampshire 9-1-1 Conference

Foundation President Nathan Lee appeals to state 9-1-1 telecommunicators to establish a uniform training and certification standard.

ENGLEWOOD, FL (April 24, 2012) – The annual state conference of the New Hampshire Emergency Dispatchers Association (NHEDA), voted unanimously to adopt a uniform standard of training for all state 9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers.  The vote was taken after Denise Amber Lee Foundation President, Nathan Lee, spoke about the tragic story of his wife’s abduction and eventual murder due to mistakes made in his local 9-1-1 center the evening of January 17^th, 2008.  NHEDA President, Paul Bagley, said, “Thanks to Nathan’s presentation we passed the voluntary certification and training standard on a unanimous voice vote!

Read the rest of the article here!

Florida’s state-mandated standardized training for telecommunicators—& how it affects LEOs

Cindra Dunaway | | Tuesday, January 24, 2012

It’s the New Year, and one can’t help but think of starting anew. In the public safety industry, there’s so much change for 2012 that it’s hard to keep up.

Here in Florida, one of the biggest changes for the public safety telecommunicator is state-mandated standardized training (also known as the Denise Amber Lee Bill). Effective October 1, 2012, all public safety telecommunicators must be state-certified, in addition to continuing education with re-certification every two years. A 232-hour curriculum framework was established with the Florida Department of Education. The Florida Department of Health (DOH) has been tasked with overseeing certification, equivalency and compliance. Subject matter experts worked with DOH in creating a certification exam. The bottom line: October 1, 2012 begins the evolution of public safety telecommunications in Florida, moving in to an era of professionalism based on statewide standardized training, expecting the same level of service whether 9-1-1 is called in the panhandle or the keys.

Click Here to Read The Entire Article

_{Copyright © 2010 – Law Officer & Elsevier Public Safety}

Local Community Foundation acknowledges potential for improvements to Public Safety

ENGLEWOOD, FL (December 30, 2011) – The Denise Amber Lee Foundation today announced it has received a grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to build infrastructure and organizational capacity to continue its goal of strengthening our community and nation’s 9-1-1 emergency response system. This grant confirms the importance and direction of the foundation’s progress and successes during its brief operational tenure.

“Our focus this past year was setting in place best practice policies and procedures to instill confidence and attract potential donors and support of our vision of seeing that every person fielding a 9-1-1 call is highly trained and certified to do so”, said Nathan Lee, President of the Denise Amber Lee Foundation.

This grant will help to build a systematic database that documents weaknesses in the 9-1-1 Emergency Response Systems like the ones that led to the tragic death of Nathan’s wife, Denise Amber Lee. This database will highlight that these weaknesses are not just local in nature, or not even confined to the State of Florida, but rather are nationwide in scope requiring a coordinated national response. The grant will also assist with the development of a powerful communications package including hard data, compelling visuals, and skilled presenters who can carry this important message to the public.

About the Denise Amber Lee Foundation

The mission of the Denise Amber Lee Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit, is to promote and support public safety through uniform training, standardized protocols, defined measurable outcomes and technological advances in the 9-1-1 system.Established in June 2008, in response to the murder of Denise Amber Lee, the foundation seeks to use the emotional power of this senseless tragedy to promote and encourage the use of technology, training, and procedures to reduce the occurrences of human error. The foundation is determined to channel and focus the public outrage of these tragic events to drive rapid change to public policy and procedures. For more information, please visitwww.deniseamberlee.org.

About Gulf Coast Community Foundation

Together with our donors, Gulf Coast Community Foundation transforms our region through bold and proactive philanthropy. Gulf Coast is a public charity that was created in 1995 through the sale of the Venice Hospital. Since then, we have welcomed more than 500 charitable funds created by generous donors, and we have invested more than $129 million in grants in the areas of arts and culture, health and human services, education, civic and economic development, and the environment. Learn more at GulfCoastCF.org.

Media Contact:

Mark Lee
941-716-4343
marklee@deniseamberlee.org