VOLUNTEERS

[Guest Dwight C]

VOLUNTEERS

The Bay County Emergency Operations Center will open a Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) on
Monday, Oct. 29 at the Southport Community Center, located at 7734 Franklin Ave., Southport. The VRC
provides a central location for the public to learn about, sign up for, and volunteer for the Hurricane
Michael relief efforts throughout the Bay County area. The VRC will be open daily from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Prospective volunteers should be aware of the following:
 Volunteers wishing to help will go through a background check through publicly available
websites at www.VolunteerFlorida.org or www.crisiscleanup.org. Log your volunteer hours.
Whether you are affiliated with an organization/group or you are an individual helping with
recovery, turning in your hours helps the county by reducing their cost needed to make “Bay
County Strong.”
 Volunteers must complete an application and be prepared to show professional licensure, if
applicable.
 Volunteers that do NOT wish to be connected with a volunteer disaster team should not register
at the VRC.
 All volunteers must be willing to sign a release of liability; if under the age of 18, parents must
sign the release form.
 Volunteers will be given specific job site assignments only after they are connected with a
trained and experienced disaster relief team.
 The assignment of volunteers to teams will be dependent upon the needs of survivors that have
been identified through a responding agency or organizations; assignments may not be
immediate.
 Volunteers must be willing to turn in a time sheet at the end of each assignment.
 Not all jobs are manual labor. Anyone can volunteer; no experience is necessary.
Volunteers are integral in every disaster and are core to a community’s recovery. Dedicated volunteers
working together will speed up recovery efforts in the Bay County area. Volunteer management and
training is fundamental to community rebuilding efforts and resilience. The VRC will coordinate, train
and deploy volunteers into teams that meet critical community needs. Ongoing hours are 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., Monday through Saturday. Come join us and make Bay County Strong.
Please do not travel to the impacted area to volunteer without being assigned through an established
disaster response group. We are seeing large numbers of untrained volunteers come forward wanting to help in areas that are still EXTREMELY UNSAFE. Volunteers not involved in a coordinated effort, though
well-meaning, are a HINDRANCE when not PART OF AN ORGANIZED PROCESS.