Training to Volunteer During Disasters and Recovery Efforts

Volunteers needed to staff a Volunteer Mobilization Center in times of disaster and recovery

Volunteer Center Serving Howard County holding two training sessions in May

 The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County, a clearing house for community volunteerism and a service of the Columbia Association (CA), will hold two training sessions for volunteers interested in helping staff a disaster Volunteer Mobilization Center (VMC) during times of disaster and recovery.

The purpose of the VMC is to coordinate community needs with spontaneous volunteers who come forward to help with tasks such as clean-up or information distribution.

A classroom training session will be held on Thursday, May 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Volunteer Center Serving Howard County in Columbia. A simulation training session will be held on Saturday, May 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Glenwood Library in Cooksville. Interested participants are encouraged to attend both training sessions.

VMC volunteers provide a variety of services from greeting, interviewing, making volunteer referrals, taking requests from agencies in need of volunteer assistance, conducting safety briefings and tracking data.

In the event of a disaster, trained VMC volunteers would be notified when a VMC is activated. A VMC in Howard County is deployed at the request of Howard County’s Department of Citizen Services and will serve under their direction.

Registration is requested by May 18. For more information or to register, call 410-715-3179 or e-mail Pam@VolunteerHoward.org. The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County is located at 10221 Wincopin Circle in Columbia. Glenwood Library is located at 2350 Rt. 97 in Cooksville.

The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County is a service of the Columbia Association and receives funding from the Baltimore UASI, Columbia Association, the Horizon Foundation and Howard County Government Department of Citizen Services.

The mission of the Volunteer Center Serving Howard County (VCSHC) is to stimulate and expand volunteerism in the community by connecting people to non-profit and public agencies in order to improve the quality of life for all people in Howard County. For more information, visit VolunteerHoward.org or call 410-715-3172.