Archive for category: Blog

Meet CMAT Volunteer Jeewan Chanicka!

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!

CMAT Volunteer Jeewan Chanicka is an elementary principal in the York Region District School Board, in Ontario. He has helped coordinate the Helping Hands Fundraising Project within the YRDSB on behalf of CMAT!

CMAT Volunteer Jeewan Chanicka is an elementary principal in the York Region District School Board, in Ontario. He has helped coordinate the Helping Hands Fundraising Project within the YRDSB on behalf of CMAT!

April 10, 2014 – Jeewan Chanicka – Fundraising

As an educator, Jeewan Chanicka wanted to extend the work he was doing with CMAT into the students’  learning which was happening in his classroom. The Helping Hands project was born early on in CMAT’s existence and through this, students from across the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) engaged in learning which resulted in them assisting children and families around the world.  “With the growing partnership between CMAT and our schools, and through the support of our Inclusive Schools and Community Services, Helping Hands has been made a system-wide initiative across the YRDSB,” states Jeewan.  

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Meet CMAT Volunteer Martin Metz, PCP and Search & Rescue!

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!

CMAT Volunteer Martin Metz climbs over hundreds of feet of debris in Ishinomaki, Japan - 2011.

CMAT Volunteer Martin Metz climbs over hundreds of feet of debris in Ishinomaki, Japan – 2011.

April 9, 2014 – Martin Metz, PCP and Search and Rescue

Martin felt a calling to assist in disaster relief when a work colleague travelled to Indonesia in 2005 to provide tsunami relief with CMAT.  His first deployment was to Haiti in January 2010 on CMAT’s team 1, and was surprised to see how a few dollars worth of medications and some relatively simple medical procedures saved so many lives after the earthquake.

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Meet CMAT Volunteer Dr. Jeanne LeBlanc, PhD

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!

CMAT Volunteer Jeanne LeBlanc, in Haiti 2010.

CMAT Volunteer Jeanne LeBlanc, in Haiti 2010.

April 8, 2014 – Dr. Jeanne LeBlanc, PhD – Registered Psychologist

Born and raised in Florida, which provides annual opportunities for large scale disasters, and with a father who worked for the Department of Emergency Management for the State, Jeanne was predestined towards being drawn to disaster response.  Now living in Canada, Jeanne had been involved with disaster behavioral health and medically-focused international relief work for a number of years with many American-based organizations, and was completing her second deployment to Haiti, immediately post-earthquake.

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Meet CMAT Volunteers Michael and Beverly Parker!

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!

Michael and Beverly Parker count out and pre-package pills in the CMAT field clinic in Ormoc, Leyte, Philippines, Nov 2013.

Michael and Beverly Parker count out and pre-package pills in the CMAT field clinic in Ormoc, Leyte, Philippines, Nov 2013.

April 8, 2014 – Beverly and Michael Parker, Registered Nurse and Paramedic

As a married couple, Beverly and Michael Parker sometimes cross paths in the workplace, Bev as a Registered Nurse, Mike as a Paramedic.  With a passion and desire to help those less fortunate, a colleague told Bev about CMAT’s deployment to Pakistan in 2010 after flooding devastated a significant portion of the country. She was intrigued. She came home and told Mike that she needed to volunteer.  His only response, “I need to come with you,” and with that they applied together, and were selected for deployment as part of CMAT’s team 3.

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Meet CMAT Volunteer Brandon Duncan, RN!

April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.

Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!

Brandon Duncan, RN assesses a small child in CMAT's field clinic in Pétionville, Haiti. April 2010.

Brandon Duncan, RN assesses a small child in CMAT’s field clinic in Pétionville, Haiti. April 2010.

April 7, 2014 – Brandon Duncan, RN

CMAT volunteer Brandon Duncan, RN learned about the 2010 earthquake in Haiti on the news, and began to research on how he could help.  His solution came to him through an old high school classmate, who was also volunteer with CMAT.  Through Facebook, Brandon kept reading updates the volunteer’s brother was posting online.  Brandon was immediately drawn to CMAT, applied, and was selected to go to Haiti in April 2010. Brandon has been involved in a variety of local CMAT activities since then, and deployed to the Philippines in November 2013.  Brandon also  travelled to the Gaza Strip in November 2012 with another organization, to assist in teaching ACLS to local emergency responders.

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