UPDATE 12.04.05 Want to volunteer over the holidays? Work crews are needed in Ocean Springs, MS.

As of December 4, 2005:

Our friend, Jim Antonakus  at the Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Ocean Springs, Mississippi called to let us know that they are overbooked with volunteers for the holiday!  THANK YOU, all you wonderful readers for your amazing donations of time and labor!

We are working with our contacts to identify other work camps asking for volunteers to assist their community.  Please keep checking back for updates.

In the meantime, here's a weblog by the volunteers at Christus Lutheran church:

Hurricane Katrina Volunteer Blog, Christus Victor Lutheran Church.

Many blessings to all, this holiday season!

Friends, volunteers will be needed in the disaster zone for many months to come.  We hope that some of you can spare your time and labor to serve in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  There is a critical need for long term volunteers.  Kindly read on for details and direct contact information from our friends at  Lutheran Disaster Response.


Tens of thousands of homes were flooded on the gulf coast. Many were uninsured and have minor structural damage but are currently uninhabitable because of mold. These houses need to be cleaned out to the studs, dried, and rebuilt to make them habitable. Surveys of flooded neighborhoods indicate 10-40% of the houses are not cleaned out as of mid-October. At some point, the clean-out work will transition to rebuilding. Lutheran Disaster Response has a multi-year commitment in the Gulf area to help with the clean-out and rebuilding effort. Thousands, possibly tens of thousands, are interested in volunteering to help with this process.

Most volunteers are short-term, working a long weekend or a week. To recruit a greater number of these short-term volunteers, and effectively put them to work, long-term volunteers are needed. We are asking long-term volunteers to commit for four weeks. If you can stay longer, that is even better.

Here are the critical work areas that need long-term volunteers:

1 Crew Recruitment (publicize our need for work crews; answer questions from interested crews; determine dates, number of people, and skills of work crews; arrange housing; enter data).

2 Disaster Victim Communication (publicize our volunteer services; talk to clients by phone and in person, determine their needs; enter data).

3 Dispatch Work Crews (assign work locations to crew managers).

4 Requirements for the above positions: Must be proficient in Word, Excel, email, and internet. A big plus but not required – bring your laptop with Word, Excel, and WI-FI and bring your cell phone with the maximum anytime minutes.

5 Equipment Management (distribute, store, maintain, and inventory work crew equipment).

6 Work Crew Management. Must have vehicle and construction knowledge (determine if a house is salvageable, estimate labor hours and equipment to gut a flooded home; estimate labor hours and material to repair gutted or damaged homes; orient, train, and manage volunteer work crews).

7 Reconstruction Manager. Must have vehicle, construction knowledge, and commit to three months. (manage the functions described above, find replacement reconstruction manager).

Food, shelter (on cots in tent cities with showers), and opportunities to help those in need, are provided to all volunteers. If you have a mobile home, we have locations to park them without hook-ups. There are also sites that may be available with hookups.

 

Interested? Contact:

Jim Antonakos, cell 410-967-5517, jantonakos@comcast.net

Christus Victor Lutheran Church / Lutheran Disaster Response

(228) 875-2446, 2755 Bienville, Ocean Springs MS 39564

Comments

[Yannick Fleury (Yanook)]

Good day!

Great work keep up the vision.

Yanook Art Inc - Art with a vision TM

Fan Club
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[Cynthia Leonard]

My 4-H teen club from Accomack County, VA, is trying to organize a trip to Bayou La Batre over our spring break in April to help out with whatever we can. We will be staying at a nearby 4-H center but need to know what we can help with. Please let me know!

[Rebecca McNair]

Any chance you could use a week long volunteer in Jan or Feb.? I have completed Red Cross Training in Mass Shelter & Family Assistance. I am a retired teacher, now in New Mexico, and am a weekly Soup Kitchen volunteer that will be organizing the Thanksgiving Dinner for some 300 homeless or low income clients.

[Brianna Ahron]

I would love to volunteer. I am not sure if I will be allowed to in this program. I am only 17 years old but I am well trained in working for many of the work areas needed for your program. Please let me know if there is any chance of being able to come down to volunteer or if there is any volunteer programs for youth. Thanks!

[direct response]

Are you still open for the volunteers?

-Daniel