Looking for a way to turn your New Year’s resolution to serve your community into reality? Team Rubicon can help you with that.
“We’re looking for 5,000 volunteers in January as part of our Go Day challenge,” said Team Rubicon CEO Jim Brooks. “Everybody is welcome and we will find a role for you.”
Team Rubicon - a veteran-led, humanitarian organization that supports communities before, during and after disasters - was founded on Jan. 13, 2010.
Before disasters, Team Rubicon helps communities prepare by assisting with mitigation and resilience, said Brooks.
“In the aftermath of a disaster on the response side, helping clear critical infrastructure, open roads, clear debris, rehab homes,” he continued. “And, after disasters, long after people forget, we really support them, making sure that families can return to their homes.”
Brooks said there are hundreds of “low attention” disasters that don’t get media attention and are not well-known.
“These low attention disasters leave communities and families exposed because oftentimes, no one shows up to help,” he explained. “Team Rubicon always looks at what’s happening, where it’s happening and where we can respond.”
Brooks said Team Rubicon was on the ground in Alaska last December when extreme weather forced the evacuation of entire villages in that state.
“We worked as long as we could, until basically it became all frozen,” he said. “We left all of our equipment and we will return in the spring after the thaw to continue our work in that community.”
Team Rubicon currently has more than 200,000 trained volunteers — known as Greyshirts — who have served on more than 1,300 disaster response and mitigation operations around the world.
To learn more and get involved, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.