Two cadets of the Lancaster Jesse Jones Squadron 304, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), received the Disaster Relief Award at the Dec. 9 meeting for their contributions to the Hurricane Helene efforts.

Cadet Tech. Sgt. Cooper Hayes of Lititz and Cadet 2nd Lt. Colby Smith of Lancaster were presented with the Disaster Relief Ribbon with Presidential Attachment for their efforts in assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Presidential Attachment is worn when the incident is deemed a disaster by the Executive Office of the President. Both cadets met with FEMA officials, who assigned all the volunteers to areas within a grid that had been damaged by Hurricane Helene. Using photographic evidence of what buildings looked like before the storm, Smith, Hayes, and others were able to assess more than 90,000 buildings and find 40,000 that were damaged by Oct. 7. Each of the cadets assessed between 200 and 400 damaged properties. These assessments helped those involved in disaster relief efforts on the ground know where the damage was most pronounced and focus efforts. The assessments spanned the gamut from no visual damage to destroyed.

Jesse Jones Squadron 304 meets each Monday except holidays at 7 p.m. in the Venture Jets hangar, which is located at the Lancaster Airport near the intersection of Lititz Pike and Millport Road in Lititz. Visitors are welcome.

The Civil Air Patrol is the official civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. To learn more, visit http://www.cap.news or http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com.