Behind the Badge
The woman dropped a raw egg on the concrete.
Splat.
She then dropped an egg encased in protective foam and other material.
The egg remained intact.
Marty De Sollar, external affairs manager at Anaheim Fire & Rescue, was standing in front of nearly 150 kids during her demonstration this week at Ponderosa Elementary School in Anaheim.
The message was clear:
Don’t wear a helmet, and you could suffer the fate of the first egg.
Kids from Ponderosa Elementary School in Anaheim wear their Anaheim Fire & Rescue bicycle helmets that were given to them at an after-school demonstration Tuesday, Dec. 15. The free helmets are part of AF&R’s “Wear Your Helmet Like A Pro” program.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Busted head.
Wear a helmet while riding a bike, scooter, skates, skateboard or other modes of transport, and you stand a much better chance of walking away with your head intact should you fall.
The after-school demonstration Tuesday, Dec. 15, which featured a guest appearance by Santa, was part of Anaheim Fire & Rescue’s ongoing “Wear Your Helmet Like a Pro” safety campaign, now in its second year. The firefighters from Station 3 joined in the demonstration.
Every Ponderosa kid in attendance at the assembly — all 147 of them — received a shiny red helmet, courtesy of AF&R. The schoolchildren are after-school participants in Anaheim Family YMCA programs.
Two days later, on Thursday, Dec. 17, De Sollar and the fire company from AF&R’s Station 1 — as well as Santa — repeated the same demonstration to 128 kids at Jefferson Elementary School.
Kids from Ponderosa Elementary participate in an after-school assembly with Anaheim Fire & Rescue personnel who discussed the importance of wearing helmets.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
“It’s very important for you to wear your helmets because what happens to you if you fall off your skateboard and you’re not wearing your helmet?” Capt. Kent Hemseri told the Ponderosa student as he held up a helmet.
“You crack your head, and you can’t do that,” he said. “That’s why you have to wear this.”
Added De Sollar: “It’s critical. I can’t tell you guys how important it is. Do you see how wonderful you all are? It’s so important (to wear a helmet) no matter if you’re going down the street to the store or school.”
Anaheim Family YMCA collectively serves around 7,000 kids throughout the city in after-school programs, providing them with homework assistance, physical activities and dinner, said Ivana Chavarria, director of communications for Anaheim Family YMCA.
Amy Verdin, 11, is fitted for a new bicycle helmet by Marty De Sollar, external affairs manager for Anaheim Fire & Rescue, as other kids from Ponderosa Elementary School in Anaheim wait behind her for their helmet. The free helmet distribution is part of the “Wear Your Helmet Like A Pro” program.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Most of the children served by Anaheim Family YMCA are from lower-income families. The non-profit selected the schools that participated in this year’s “Wear Your Helmet Like a Pro” helmet-giveaway demonstration.
Armando Lopez, 11, rides a skateboard every day but doesn’t have a helmet.
Now he has one.
“I like the color red, and I like how it says Anaheim on it,” said Armando, a sixth-grader at Ponderosa Elementary, as he admired his new helmet.
Armando promised to wear it whenever he rides his skateboard, and said he will encourage his two brothers and two sisters to do the same.
“I will tell them if they don’t they could get hurt,” Armando said.
Five-year-old Delylah Torres talks to Santa during the Dec. 15 school assembly.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Keisha Alegra, also a sixth-grader at Ponderosa, said she has a scooter and a bike but rarely rides them.
Now that she has a brand-new helmet, Keisha said she will ride them a lot more.
Hemseri noted that Anaheim Fire & Rescue never see statistics about the effectiveness of kids wearing helmets.
That’s because those statistic don’t exist.
“The funny thing about this (‘Wear Your Helmet Like a Pro’) program is you never know how good it’s working,” Hemseri said. “If it works, we never get a call. We only get a call when something bad happens.”
The helmets are available at all 11 of Anaheim’s fire stations. Hemseri and his firefighting brethren have no doubt they can be lifesavers.
And so, now, do a lot more youngsters in Anaheim.
Anaheim Fire & Rescue External Affairs Manager Marty De Sollar presents a helmet to Joshua Abarca, 11, as Anaheim Fire & Rescue Capt. Scott Fox looks on. Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Kids from Ponderosa Elementary School gather around Santa with questions during a visit by Anaheim Fire & Rescue.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Armando Lopez, 11, is thrilled with his new helmet. He used to not wear one while riding his skateboard.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Santa arrives with firefighters from Anaheim Fire & Rescue to Ponderosa Elementary School in Anaheim for an assembly on the importance of wearing helmets.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
