The American Red Cross will honor East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc with the 2015 Community Resilience Hero Award for her work toward emergency preparedness.
Leclerc will receive the award during a ceremony March 20 at the Downtown Hartford Marriott.
The award recognized Leclerc for reopening East Hartford's Emergency Operations Center in 2011 after 30 years, which has been used during multiple weather-related incidents, including the October 2011 snowstorm.
Leclerc also led the town's acquisition of Everbridge software to help get the word out to the community about shelter locations, business and school closings and safety measures in the event of an emergency.
"East Hartford has built a strong infrastructure through careful planning, community partnerships, and programs that enables them to respond to a broad range of emergencies," Red Cross Emergency Services Senior Director Rebecca Johnson said in a statement Tuesday. "East Hartford has several best practices that serve as models for Connecticut towns in terms of emergency preparedness."
The award also notes the town's partnership with the Red Cross to film an emergency preparedness video for the deaf and hearing impaired.
"Since 2011, steps have been taken that have brought the town to the forefront of emergency preparedness," Leclerc said in a statement. "I will continue on my work in order to completely safeguard our community from any natural disaster."
