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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. ? Steve Mader, the manager with the Kearny Mesa SIGN-A-RAMA branch, shows the spectrum of colorful rolls they use as banners, Nov. 13. The store on average handles 10-20 projects every week. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher O?Quin) (Released).

Photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher O'Quin

Free welcome home signs offered to military families in San Diego area

17 Nov 2007 | Lance Cpl. Christopher O'Quin Marine Corps Air Station Miramar-EMS

 A local chain of sign companies now offer families and friends of returning service members free, customized banners for homecoming events.

 Family members or friends of the deployed military can contact participating SIGN-A-RAMA chains around San Diego to help design a banner. Since Nov. 9, the store began to offer the service as a way of saying thank you to service members and their families.

 “Waiting for their return can be an emotional roller coaster for their families and friends,” said Steve Mader, the owner of the branch in Kearny Mesa. “SIGN-A-RAMA would like to show its appreciation to our brave Marines, sailors and soldiers by helping to make their return home just a little more special with a personalized, professionally created banner.”

 The company requests family members and friends interested to give their full name, phone number and date of homecoming. They also require the name, rank and branch of service, along with any special greeting they would like displayed on the banner.

 “Since we started this offer, the store has received around a dozen requests for the banners,” said Mader. “This has been done before on the east coast, but me and a couple other branches brainstormed and decided to do it for the military here.”

 The store will put the special greeting on a 24 X 60 size banner and can create as many as requested.

 “We would also like for families of deployed service members who request welcome home banners, to send photos of their loved ones for our ‘Wall of Honor’,” said Eve D. Delgado, a sign consultant for the Kearny Mesa branch. “The wall in front of our office will feature a collage of them for our customers to see.”

 Families and friends can contact the participating stores Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The requested banner can be ready within 48 hours of the request. To contact the nearest SIGN-A-RAMA branch, visit www.signarama.com.

 “Its good to see people helping and providing more support for our Marines deployed,” said Jocelyn Garcia, whose boyfriend recently returned with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466. “When my boyfriend comes home, he’ll know where to find our families and friends in the crowd and can see how much we care about him.”


POLICY

The most important starting point for an EMS* is the development of an environmental policy. ISO14001 requires local governments to implement their own environmental policy. The environmental policy acts as a basis for the environmental management system.

PLANNING

ISO14001 requires that an environmental management system is planned properly. It requires the organization to consider the following carefully: Environmental Aspects; Legal and Other Aspects; Objectives and Targets; and an Environmental Management Program.

IMPLEMENTATION

The two requirements for implementation of an EMS is to define, document, and communicate roles, responsibilities and authorities, and to allocate the resources needed to implement and control the EMS.

CHECKING

The key requirement in this EMS step is to regularly monitor and measure key characteristics of activities and operations that could have a significant impact on the environment. Changes to EMS procedures may become necessary in order to deal with nonconformances with the EMS, with mitigating environmental impacts, or corrective and preventive action.

REVIEW

The management review process ensure that information is collected to enable management to carry out proper review. Top management review the need for changes to policy, objectives and targets, and ensure that a commitment to continual improvement is being demonstrated.

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar-EMS