Coast Guard Foundation Works to Keep Coasties ‘Always Ready’
Published: Saturday, September 5, 2020
By: Jordan Balbresky
Summer on the Great Lakes is beautiful, and boaters have been spending every second they can on the water. That means that summer on the Great Lakes has also been busy for the United States Coast Guard, as they work to ensure boaters remain safe. As of late July, there have been more than 1,700 search and rescue cases, 130 more than the five-year average.
The Great Lakes are covered by the Coast Guard’s 9th District, which includes more than 6,000 active duty, reserve, civilian, and auxiliary members. These Coast Guard members are responsible for everything from search and rescue, maritime safety and security, environmental protection, maritime law enforcement, maintaining aids to navigation, and even the annual necessary icebreaking. While these brave individuals focus on our safety, they and their families are supported by a unique non-profit organization called the Coast Guard Foundation.
The Coast Guard Foundation has over 50 years of experience investing in the resilience of the Coast Guard. They collaborate with Coast Guard leadership to identify the best ways to support members and families and effectively address new and emerging needs. The partnership spans the entire community—whether supporting individuals, bolstering entire units, or honoring the Coast Guard’s mission at a national level.
Here in the Great Lakes, Coast Guard members benefit from the Coast Guard Foundation’s core programs. Education, health and wellness, and emergency relief are a few of those areas of support.
Education support for Coast Guard kids can reduce student loan debt, allowing them to focus on their studies and setting them up for stronger futures. In the 30 years of the Foundation’s scholarship program, they have awarded $6 million to more than 1,300 college-aged young adults. Other education support includes scholarships and grants for Coast Guard spouses who are enrolled in higher education and professional certification programs. Supporting Coast Guard spouses boosts their financial stability and enables them to have everything they need to provide for their family and strengthen their own personal well-being.
For children of fallen Coast Guard members, the Foundation offers scholarships that cover all of their higher education expenses. This investment gives families financial support and honors their Coast Guard member’s heroism and sacrifice. This year, Tyler Ferreby received a full scholarship in honor of his father, Seaman Christopher Ferreby, who died from injuries incurred while on a maritime law enforcement patrol on Lake Ontario, near the mouth of the Niagara River in New York State. Ferreby and three other Coast Guard crew members were aboard a 22-foot patrol boat in the cold winter of March 2001, when a rogue wave topped the boat and all four were forced into the water. After they failed to check-in, Coast Guard from nearby Station Niagara launched a search and located the crew in the water, wearing dry suits and life jackets. Two of the crew members were treated for hypothermia. Tragically, Seaman Ferreby and BM2 Scott Chism succumbed to their injuries. Now, with the Coast Guard Foundation’s support, Tyler is enrolled in a mechanical engineering program in North Carolina, pursuing his bachelor’s degree.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the Coast Guard Foundation has supported more than 150 projects around the country, including outfitting spaces at duty stations so Coast Guard members serving during this new environment could have enrichment and recreation options, and wellness and health support to stay ready for duty, while following appropriate safety guidelines and social distancing. A Coast Guard Foundation grant provided Station Port Huron with new gear for their crew lounge to help boost morale.
Investing in Coast Guard community building is an important part of the Coast Guard Foundation’s mission. The Captain Jimmie H. Hobaugh Coast Guard Community Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, was built in 2014 in partnership with the Coast Guard and provides recreation and community space for the more than 600 Coast Guard members stationed in this isolated area. The Community Center gives Coast Guard members and their families in the area an all-inclusive indoor recreation facility that also serves as a safe place for families to enjoy themselves during the long Upper Peninsula of Michigan winters.
The Coast Guard Foundation has created a better future for the entire Coast Guard community. Thanks to their work, the resolve and resilience of members is stronger. They know that their families have complete support. From enlistment to long after retirement, with the Coast Guard Foundation behind them, the Coast Guard remains always ready. Please take some time and find out how you can assist the Coast Guard Foundation, helping those that protect us all. For more information on the Coast Guard Foundation, please visit www.coastguardfoundation.org.
About Jordan Balbresky
A former public relations practitioner serving the high-tech and consumer electronics industries, Jordan Balbresky returned to the agency world following a decade of hands-on marine experience. Living in the Caribbean and working in all aspects of the marine industry—from boat building, restoration and maintenance, to charter captain and delivery crew of sailing and motor yachts—Balbresky has a first-hand understanding of the outdoor and maritime markets. Fully immersing himself in the industry, he is a licensed scuba instructor, as well as master mariner and has lived on-board a custom-built schooner while skippering charters on boats of all sizes in the US Virgin Islands.
See latest events held by The Coast Guard foundation in this related article >>>
This article first appeared in the Fall Issue (Sep/Oct) 2020 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Charity, Great Lakes, safety
