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David Ball

2010 National Achievement Award Winner

David Ball is an outstanding individual who has gone above and beyond others in community preparedness and safety. David was a sheriff in Oklahoma when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred. He spent two weeks rescuing others until an accident on the rubble pile paralyzed him. Since the accident, he has moved to Southern California and continued to help others in disaster awareness despite his being in a wheelchair.

Throughout the region David and his service dog, Hawk, have become icons of disaster preparedness for the community.  David has used his first responder experience for the good of the community and continued working within disaster services. He is an active member of the Riverside County American Red Cross; where he is an instructor in disaster services and trained shelter worker. He is a member of the City of Riverside CERT. David also works closely with members of the disaster response agencies through various committees and tasks forces. He works closely with Peter Lent of the Riverside County OES and chair of the Riverside County OAPC, Julie Pardini of the American Red Cross and chair of the VOAD (David is the co-chair), and Leann Colletta, the chair of the Riverside County Mass Care and Shelter Task Force. David also works closely with Marcie Roth of FEMA, Richard Devylder of the State of California, and Anthony Colletta of Riverside County Fire. David is the only wheelchair user that is on the State of California FAST team. 

Working with these fine individuals and vital organizations is just a small part of what David does for the community. David instructs free workshops for the disabled on disaster preparedness and how best to meet the functional needs these individuals may have during a disaster. These courses are for individuals with all types of disabilities and the caregivers of these individuals, and suitable all ages. He has worked with the City of Riverside to continue the File of Life program for the disabled community when funding was cut to the city.  David is also employed full time, on top of all his volunteer work, as a System Change Advocate for the Riverside County Independent Living Center, Community Access Center. With his enthusiasm and drive for disaster preparedness and response he has been able to get his co-workers and the Center involved as well. Some of his co-workers have joined CERT and the American Red Cross as a result of David’s passion and drive to make the community a safer place for all. The Community Access Center has even collaborated with the county to have specific functional needs equipment available for use during a disaster and/or shelter situation. David, along with the officials of Riverside County, collaborated with Cal EMA to produce a first responder training video on functional needs.  

David has shown great skills in leadership and collaboration when dealing with the community; from local residents to city, county, state, and federal officials. No matter whom he is working with, David always has a smile, determination, and a solution. In the little free time David has he is researching more ways to help the community be prepared and other avenues for reaching out to the individuals that need the most help. Although David is modest about just how vital he is to the community, everyone around him sees just how much he truly enjoys helping others and the difference he has made.

Full list of 2010 Achievement Award Winners