My good friend Jesse Putnam has been doing some research into opporunities to do hands-on volunteer work with post-Katrina recovery along the Gulf Coast. Here’s what he found.
In brief, due to the degree of the damage and human need, many agencies are being more open with / for prospective volunteers than they would normally be. The smaller agencies seem to move volunteers into the system faster, though Red Cross is really moving folks in quickly both for national deployment and local office assistance.
Red Cross
The Seattle Red Cross is actually having open training sessions and then deploying volunteers pronto to the affected areas, which I have never heard of them doing before. If you wish to donate a couple weeks (10 days is the minimum) you can find lots of info about the trainings on their website. The King County website is : http://www.seattleredcross.org/ The national is: http://www.redcross.org/. I believe all volunteers get trainied and deployed out of their local chapter.
Peace Corps Crisis Corps
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.former.crisiscorps.katrina
For returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) only. From their email alert: “Crisis Corps is working with several organizations to determine what skill sets will be requested and to develop protocols for placing RPCVs with an appropriate agency. If you did not include your resume in your initial response please do so as updated resumes will be required from all candidates under consideration. Even if you have sent a resume to Crisis Corps in the recent past, please send another. Due to the large volume of applicants, we will not be able to pull resumes from our file. Applications will be sorted by skill set and availability.”
The Crisis Corps Team: crisiscorps@peacecorps.gov
Lutheran Disaster Response
“Thank you for your willingness to volunteer. Your name and contact information will be entered into our database and shared with Lutheran Disaster Response coordinators organizing our efforts of recovery in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Please visit our web site to access the most current information. Lutheran Disaster Response is known for being there long after a disaster has left the media spotlight * thank you for helping make this ministry possible.
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
http://www.thefellowship.info/home.icm
CBF is building a data base of volunteers to serve with Katrina relief. Email them for a Volunteer Information Form. They will review your application and be in contact regarding the possibility for service in the disaster areas.
All volunteers, individuals and teams, should contact Timothy Wood at 1-800-782-2451, to begin making plans for entering Louisiana and Mississippi once sites are designated. Spanish speakers are also needed.
USA Freedom Corps
http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov
“As recovery and relief efforts begin to assist victims, volunteers are being urged not to report directly to the affected areas unless directed by a volunteer agency. Please be patient and allow the professional first-responders and aid workers to do their job. Visit the USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network in the coming weeks, months and years to find opportunities to engage in ongoing relief efforts and prepare for future disasters. President Bush is also calling on Americans to contact their local Red Cross chapters for volunteer opportunities in their own community. For more information, please visit www.usafreedomcorps.gov.”
VolunteerMatch
“Over the last week hundreds of thousands of volunteers have visited VolunteerMatch.org to find an opportunity to support the ongoing relief efforts. If your organization is directly involved in the Katrina recovery activities, VolunteerMatch is ready to help you reach, recruit and coordinate needed volunteers. To edit or add volunteer opportunities, log in to your account at: http://www.volunteermatch.org/post/login.jsp. We have also created a specific volunteer category, “Hurricane Relief,” intended to help funnel volunteers directly to Gulf Coast-related volunteer opportunities. Please use this category in addition to any others you are using for hurricane-related volunteer opportunities.
If you have one or more years of experience in volunteer service management or disaster relief and would like to be a part of a professional team that is organizing to provide relief, renewal and rejuvenation to current managers of volunteer services in areas affected by Katrina, please follow the link below: http://www.volunteermatch.org/results/opp_detail.jsp?oppid=229257
I am writing to you on behalf of the Louisiana Association of Volunteer Centers and the Louisiana Office of the Lt. Governor and the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service. Both of these groups need more volunteers to sign up at the site to help with the long term recovery work that is being conducted by nonprofits that are using their statewide volunteering websites.
Would you be willing to place a link to their websites http://www.VolunteerLouisiana.gov and http://www.VolunteerMississippi.org on your site encouraging people to sign up to volunteer?
If you know of nonprofits in the gulf who need volunteers, they can get a free account to manage those volunteers by selecting “Create An Account” on those sites.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and help in working together to rebuild New Orleans.
Katherine Watier
Director, Marketing and Sales, 1-800-Volunteer.org
Points of Light Foundation & Hands on Network