Auxiliarist Santa Claus, yes his name is legally Santa Claus, of Flotilla 11-1 of the Eleventh Auxiliary Coast Guard District in North Lake Tahoe, NV, has answered FEMA's (Federal Emergency Management Agency) request of the Auxiliary and will become a FEMA disaster assistant.
Auxiliarist Claus has been a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for just under six months. “FEMA has requested Auxiliary members volunteer to act as paid disaster assistance employees,” said Claus.
Claus has a remarkable background, as a member of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of the Washoe County (NV) Sheriff’s department, and the Citizens Homeland Security Council, also of Washoe County, NV.
Previous affiliations run the gamut of emergency services, including a stint as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Police Commissioner, New York City (NYPD).
Auxiliarist Claus is also an ordained priest in the United Catholic Church. Asked what he really wanted to do, while working for FEMA, he answered, "(I) hope I'm able to comfort some of the orphaned, abandoned, separated, and injured children too," he answered.
Auxiliarist Santa Claus is just one of many Auxiliarists nationwide that have volunteered to either work directly for the Coast Guard as Auxiliarist volunteers or to work for FEMA as a paid disaster assistance employee.
Last year, in response to the multiple hurricanes that hit Florida, FEMA requested the Coast Guard Auxiliary put a call out to its members to also serve as disaster assistance employees.
Santa Claus is just one of over 32,000 men and women who bring a diversity of experience to the Coast Guard, and this nation. Each Auxiliarist donates not only their time, but their money, and in some cases their boats, their aircraft and their radios; all to be a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.