Ridgefield Responds was born as a town mobilization effort to respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. Selectwoman, Di Masters, whose experience witnessing enormous generosity and compassion by friends and neighbors in and around Ridgefield in every crisis, joined forces with friend and resident Cindy Black to coordinate the program. Di, watching Katrina unfold on the Gulf, recognized that we, as a town, could affect a more positive outcome with a directed target, and located direct contacts and needs on the ground in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Immediate support came from our First Selectmen and Social Services office. Cindy coordinated a vast volunteer corps and developed an inventory system of donations while Di went to the destroyed town of Pass Christian to offer aide and pave the way for our first delivery. The Ridgefield Responds mobilization effort gained momentum and joined many other communities in aiding Pass Christian. An Adopt-A-Family program at Christmas, an extension of the original disaster relief program, was very popular with our citizens as well, and provided much needed additional support after the initial devastation of the Hurricane had passed.

Ridgefield Responds met its original objective by harnessing the incredible energy and generosity of our citizens and combining it for a common good. In addition to the fine talents of Di Masters and Cindy Black, Ridgefield Responds owed its success to First Selectman Rudy Marconi, Social Services Director Mary Ann Baldwin, our Parks and Recreation department and their Director, Paul Roche, our fine clergy and our remarkable Ridgefield Responds chief of transportation, Bruce Casio, a trucking company owner and parapalegic driver who donated trucks for transporting donations directly to Pass Christian and drove multiple trips himself.

Di’s deeply compassionate style, high energy level and Cindy’s unwavering dedication and impeccable organizational talents combined and became the driving force in getting Ridgefield Responds off the ground with such success and impact.

While not an ongoing operation, the Ridgefield Responds model can be employed to provide the local gathering of human support, energy, collections of goods and fundraising for a specific, identified need around the world or here at home. The mobilization effort can only be pulled together on an as needed basis when a team of volunteers is ready and willing to step up and organize the program.