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BUCKHANNON -- Many public events such as the West Virginia Strawberry Festival and Festival Fridays did not happen in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the Buckhannon Police Department's Volunteers in Police Service found they were needed in other ways - assisting with traffic at drive-thru testing sites, flu clinics, etc.
Despite a reduced number of events, the 15 VIPS found themselves giving back 1,515 in volunteer hours, about half of what was served in 2019, according to VIPS coordinator Steve Wycoff at Thursday's Buckhannon City Council meeting.
"The number of events we help with dropped drastically this year, simply due to the pandemic," he said. "Normally, we assist with 120 to 130 events per year including Strawberry Festival. This year, we only assisted with 78. We had 63 events that were canceled. Twenty-seven of the 78 were public health related such as the testing clinics for COVID-19, drive thru flu shots, etc.
"In total, the group volunteered over 1,515 hours which is about half of what we did in 2019," he said. "That still allowed officers to attend to other situations during those hours we were on duty," he said.
VIPS volunteer hours saved the city almost $35,000 in labor costs.
Members were recognized during Thursday night's meeting while social distancing from the Public Safety Complex. Council members were able to view the ceremony from council chambers.
"We started 2020 with 12 members, did not have any deactivations this year and gained three more in August so we are up to 15 right now," Wykoff said.
"We are still working on enhancing our training and getting everything in line with CALEA so we can assist Chief [Matt] Gregory and the department," he said.
VIPS are also working to make sure their training aligns with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Incident Management System.
Once again, VIPS members who qualified were presented with a Presidential Volunteer Service Award and everyone received certificate of appreciation from the city.
Wykoff earned a silver PVSA award for volunteering 396.5 hours in 2020. Bronze recipients were Jewel Fisher (143), David Rowan (166), Evelyn Syski (196.5), Vito Syski (213.5) and Andi Cartier (141).
Gregory said, "On behalf of myself and every member of the BPD, I would like to send a most heartfelt thank you to our VIPS members. You all are an invaluable asset to not just the police department but our entire community. You truly go above and beyond in all that you so freely give. My hat is off to each and every one of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything that you do for us."
Mayor Robbie Skinner echoed those comments.
"There are many events that our community has in a non-COVID year that we definitely could not successfully pull off without the dedicated members of the VIPS," he said. "I know they enhance the police department and they enhance our community by their service to us and we appreciate everything they do for us. I think it's important every year that we make sure we pause to recognize their service here and their assistance to you as the police department."