LC native honored

Capt. Randall West of the Alameda County Fire Department in California was recently honored for his positive impact as a role model in the community, and he gives all the credit to his hometown roots in Lake Charles.

West said his upbringing in north Lake Charles was not full of promise, but as he entered the college scene, his focus began to shift.

“At McNeese I became the president of my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma,” said West. “That role was my stepping stone for really getting into the community.”

After graduating in 2000, West moved to California to pursue a relationship with his father.

While completing his studies to become a firefighter there, he started serving as a lead skills instructor for the Bay Area Youth EMT Program, he said. The program teaches inner-city youths ages 18-24 firefighter and EMT curriculum free of charge.

“Once they finish the first part of the program, which is the EMT curriculum, they are eligible to become EMTs if they desire to,” said West.

The program inspired West to keep serving the community once he was a firefighter.

“Once I was hired and got promoted a few times in the department, I wanted to start giving back to the community,” he said. “That’s how the Back-to-School Supply Drive began.”

West said that by creating this drive, he wanted to take the load off of the teachers’ shoulders to provide basic school needs such as notebooks, backpacks and pencils for their students.

“The first two years it was focused on one school in Emeryville,” said West. “These past couple of years we have expanded our services to help other underprivileged and inner-city youth throughout Alameda County, not just Emeryville.”

West also offers a presentation to inner-city youth during Black History Month titled “Chief is my Belief” that accents the history of African-American firefighters.

He said the programs he created are part of why he was selected by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors as one of their Black History Month Honorees. The commendation came soon after West was honored by the city of Emeryville for his “mentorship of youth and commitment to safety.”

“Receiving these awards were totally unexpected, but very appreciative. Lake Charles has made me who I am today,” he said.

“My upbringing in Lake Charles has spread out here, and to know that I’ve made a positive impact on someone because of that is so important to me.”