Project Siren; Cape Coral chaplain praying for first responders

The sound of sirens, life and death hang in the balance. A cape coral chaplain bows his head and says a prayer. The power of faith, the power of trust.

WINK News reporter Annette Montgomery sat down with the chaplain, Dr. Don Neace, to talk about Project Siren and his relationship with the Cape Coral Police Department and the Cape Coral Fire Department.

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What’s the first thing you do when you hear a siren?

“I’m breathing a prayer,” said Neace. “I’m praying for whoever’s on that truck, whoever’s in that vehicle, and then wherever they’re going, for whoever they’re helping. And it, it, it sounds like that could be complicated, but it’s really a very simple prayer, Lord, help whoever’s in that truck, keep them safe where they’re going, and help whoever they’re helping.”

Doctor Don Neace is the chaplain for the Cape Coral Police Department and the Cape Coral Fire Department.

He knows many people hear a siren and get out of the way. They probably wonder what happened or what the emergency was. Neace skips all of that and goes straight to prayer.

“From the first responders that I’ve spoken to, their encouragement is, I’m just glad to know there are a lot of people praying, whether that’s a dozen or 20 dozen, there’s a lot of people praying, and I never knew would pray for me,” said Neace.

Neace said his siren prayer started as an idea, something he mentioned when he went to banquets with first responders and their families.

Now, Siren Prayer Partners is a movement.

“I had several people say, ‘I’ve been practicing that prayer you asked me today,’ those kinds of responses when I’m in those formal settings, that that’s been encouraging,” said Neace. “I feel confident there’s 700. I’m optimistic that there’s 800, and I would love to know that there’s even more than that.”

Whether it’s a line, a verse, or just a few words strung together buttoned up with an amen, Neace said he knows the power of prayer is real, and heals.

“The power of that prayer is that we come into agreement with the knowledge of God,” said Neace. “God, my part is so simple, so earthbound, I don’t know, but I trust that you know. And so when I pray that prayer, I’m trusting that he knows how to best answer that prayer in the lives of the first responders, the families, the emergency that they’re that they’re facing.”

So the next time you hear that siren, Neace hopes you’ll join the movement and say a prayer.