Planning and preparing for a disaster are a whole community effort. This includes residents as well as all levels of government along with many community organizations and partners. Tornadoes, flash flooding, extreme temperatures along with the impacts of these type of incidents is something we all need to think about and prepare for. We are not in this alone and work is being done every day with response agencies to plan and train for the response to these types of events. We are also very fortunate that our communities come together to help each other when disaster strikes. This willingness to help and provide support to those impacted is an important part of the recovery process. One of the
many examples of this community support includes the work being done by the Fond du Lac Area United Way in partnership with Fond du Lac County Emergency Management to plan and prepare for this response if needed. One piece of that partnership is a Disaster Volunteer Reception Center or DVRC. The DVRC has trained staff to assist with the coordination of volunteer resources which are available during disaster response. This includes things such as registering volunteers, identifying skills that volunteers have to assist in assignment of tasks as well as tracking time spent helping. Volunteers provide valuable services and help the community work towards recovery in a disaster. County Executive Sam Kaufman commented: “Volunteers provide a great service to our community, whether in an emergency or in every day activities. This spirit of volunteerism is one of the many things that makes our community a great place to live and work.” As part of this partnership Fond du Lac County is pleased to award a grant of $3,000.00 to the Fond du
Lac Area United Way to support the DVRC. These funds will support the work of the DVRC to be ready to support response and recovery efforts if the need arises. “The Disaster Volunteer Reception Center is a very important piece of response to a disaster. The funds received through this grant will help us train the staff we need to respond should the need arise.” Stated Amber Kilawee, Executive Director of the Fond du Lac Area United Way. Fond du Lac County Emergency Management is committed to taking a “whole community” approach to preparedness and planning. This approach will hopefully increase the resilience of our communities and make the response to disasters as successful as possible. This effort is enhanced through partnerships such as this one as well as the support of our residents and community leaders.
