15 November 2012

Volunteer Army Foundation to Assist in Hurricane Sandy Recovery

For Immediate Release:

The Volunteer Army Foundation has been invited by Global DIRT (Disaster Immediate Response Team, globaldirt.org) to assist a clean-up operation in Belle Harbor, New York.

VAF operations manager Jason Pemberton says that while the TV coverage has dropped off in the two weeks since Hurricane Sandy blasted through, thousands of residents on the US east coast are still out of their homes, with thousands more without power and living in freezing conditions.

“It's always a shock hearing that things are still so bad,” Pemberton says “but as Christchurch learned, one of the biggest supports after a disaster is a friendly face offering assistance."

“We’re heading over to after of a request for coordination assistance, and will share the system that we developed through five earthquake clean ups, matching needs and resources, to help prioritise and map requests for optimum efficiency.”

Together with fellow Volunteer Army Foundation member Jackson Rowland, Pemberton is travelling to NY today (Thursday 15 November). The pair will work alongside Global DIRT sharing their learnings from the Canterbury earthquake experience and establish a localised ‘Volunteer Army’ with experienced dispatch and coordination frameworks.

Global DIRT previously organised for Pemberton and Sam Johnson to travel to Japan following the devastating tsunami to assist a university group with their volunteer effort. ”We're not experts, just a group of people who have done this coordination gig a few times now" says Pemberton.

Jason and Jackson will be utilising software provided free of charge from Telogis, the premium provider of Location-Based-Services to enterprises across the globe to support their logistics while on the ground. They have also been kindly supported by Untouched World eco fashion.

He says the Volunteer Army is seeking donations to help fund the trip. Donations can be made via the give-a-little account http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/hurricane

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