On March 24th, Wendy Norris, CEO of the Texas Line-of-Duty Death (LODD) Task Force received the Firefighter Hero Award from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) and MAGLITE®.
Norris will be honored in a ceremony by MAGLITE® and the NFFF for her ongoing efforts to help families in need after a devastating injury or line-of-duty death of a first responder. The Texas LODD Task Force provides assistance to not only the injured but to the families of the fallen with services such as death notifications, funeral planning, crisis management, resource procurement, benefits filing, and long-term family care that includes peer support, networking, and retreats.
This team was one of the first official response teams in the United States and partners with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to serve as the Local Assistance State Team in Texas. Since its inception, the Texas LODD Task Force has provided assistance to hundreds of families and departments, consulted with hundreds of departments around Texas and across the country, and has educated over a thousand firefighters, police, and EMS workers in preparing for serious injuries and line-of-duty deaths in their departments.
“Wendy does an outstanding job coordinating assistance to families and departments in the event of a firefighter line-of-duty death in Texas,” said Ian Bennett, National Coordinator for the Local Assistance State Teams of the NFFF. “Her dedication is evident as she ensures firefighters are honored for their sacrifice and all available assistance is given to the families.”
Wendy also serves as the Presiding Officer on the Governor’s Advisory Panel for the Star of Firefighter Texas Award, she is a peer advisor for the Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery (SOAR) program of the Phoenix Burn Society, and a Master Chaplain/Instructor for the Federation of Fire Chaplains.
“We cannot express enough thanks to Wendy for her continued support and dedication to the Texas LODD Task Force,” said Chief Ronald J. Siarnicki, Executive Director of the NFFF. “With our tremendous support from MAGLITE, we are able to acknowledge Wendy’s contribution and efforts to support the fire service and their families.”
The National Firefighter Hero program is a joint effort between MAGLITE® and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The program periodically honors single firefighters, groups, or whole departments for extraordinary commitment to upholding excellence in firefighting and related activities.
“It is a sad reality that our first-responders are tragically killed and severely injured in the line of duty,” said Anthony Maglica, Founder and CEO of Mag Instrument Inc. “The work of the Texas LODD Task Force and, specifically, Wendy Norris helps those families in their time of need and is the kind of efforts that embody service to community. We are committed to supporting this program and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. I am very happy to honor this true hero with this award and a donation to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in her name which will be permanently displayed on a brick at the National Fallen Firefighters Walk of Honor®.”
More:
[display-posts category=”firefighter-hero-of-the-month” order=”DSC” wrapper=”ul” posts_per_page=”100″ exclude_current=”true”]
