Starke County COAD is seeking caring community members to join their ranks!
At Tuesday night’s meeting, members discussed why having a localized group of volunteers can be beneficial to a community during a disaster.
Local individuals can respond faster to a spontaneous incident than those who are stationed elsewhere. They also have a better understanding of the area, and may have some insight that outsiders do not know. Volunteering locally also helps bring the community closer together as it shows that there are helpful resources available “right in your own backyard.”
During the meeting, members of COAD heard from Red Cross Representatives Doug Farmwald and Anastasia Murray. They talked about some of the different ways that individuals can get involved with Red Cross to help within their own community.
One way that local organizations can help is by offering their facilities to serve as a shelter site or a donation distribution center. There is a checklist of specifications that a site must meet in order to be Red Cross compliant.
A Red Cross rep would tour the potential facility in order to assess if and how it could be utilized. Different kinds of establishments can be used depending on the disaster and the number of people who need to be housed.
Another way that anyone can get involved is by volunteering. Volunteers are needed to work at emergency shelters, to help out at distribution centers, to provide assistance to first responders and for a variety of other reasons. Once certified with the Red Cross, volunteers can even help train others as well.
If a group of about five or more individuals want to have an in-person training session, Red Cross could send a teacher to host a class locally. However, many of the classes can be taken online. For more information or to get started, visit redcross.org/volunteer.
Interested individuals looking to providing a helping hand right here in Starke County are encouraged to contact Starke County EMA Director J. Nier at 574-772-9182.
