New Web Site Helps Communities Prepare for the Next Disaster

WASHINGTON, DC (May 24, 2006) Communities from the battered Gulf Coast to New England are preparing for one of the worst hurricane seasons in the past 40 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Volunteer Centers along the eastern seaboard are encouraging potential volunteers to sign up on www.HelpinDisaster.org to indicate their skills and availability now, well before the next disaster hits.

Registering volunteers before disaster strikes is the mission of HelpinDisaster.org , launched this week to coincide with National Hurricane Preparedness Week, which ends May 27. The week is designed to help communities prepare for the upcoming hurricane season that begins June 1 and runs through November 30.

"For the first time, there is a Web site that registers volunteers by skill area in a uniform way and makes this information securely available to the entire disaster volunteer management community, says Robert K. Goodwin, president and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation.. " www.HelpinDisaster.org will ensure that volunteer managers can efficiently recruit volunteers with the skills that match the local needs." Through www.HelpinDisaster.org, volunteer information is only shared when the volunteer accepts a job assignment, ensuring that volunteers with critical skills can be connected to urgent community needs.

HelpinDisaster.org , powered by 1-800-Volunteer.org, allows volunteers to register their skills, availability, contact preferences and ability to travel so they can be reached when they are needed. It is a Web site portal that provides volunteers with a direct connection to local volunteer opportunities that match interests, skills and the common desire to make a difference in their communities.

"I think this is a wonderful idea that may offer many people the path to service," says Dave Freeman, Chief Meteorologist for the KSN WeatherLab in Wichita, Kan. "I wish you the best of luck in your efforts!"

HelpinDisaster.org is sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network, a nonprofit organization in Washington, DC. The Foundation engages and mobilizes millions of volunteers who are helping to solve serious social problems in thousands of communities. Through a variety of programs and services, the Foundation encourages people from all walks of life – businesses, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, low-income communities, families, youth and older adults – to volunteer.

For more information, go to www.HelpinDisaster.org.

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