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Schwarzenegger Elevates California Volunteers
by
findingDulcinea Staff
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has created a cabinet post to manage citizen volunteers in an effort to better utilize them during disaster relief.
30-Second Summary
On Feb. 26, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced the creation of the new post, which gives head of California Volunteers Karen Baker a prominent role in disaster preparation and response planning.
Baker, whose new title is the secretary for service and volunteering, said "Government can't do it alone, and that's why I think the governor's smart to elevate” the role of citizen volunteers.
The governor was inspired to make the “radical” appointment, as Time magazine describes it, after watching volunteers in action during the October 2007 California wildfires and the November 2007 oil spill in San Francisco.
The timing may be just right. Since Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the country has seen volunteerism reach historic levels.
Blogging for New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune, John Pope applauds the overwhelming volunteer effort along the Gulf Coast during the two years since Hurricane Katrina. According to a federal report, Katrina volunteers have contributed services worth nearly $263 million.
Even untrained volunteers can make a difference according to experts quoted in a November 2005 New York Times article published in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Ophelia.
Kathy Bushkin of the AOL Time Warner Foundation told the Times that volunteering has become more common since Sept. 11. "We tapped into something so deep in people's need to do something," she said.
But heroic volunteerism is nothing new. When France fell to Nazi Germany in World War II, volunteers set out from the English coast in small private boats to rescue the British troops stranded on the other side of the Channel at Dunkirk. A descendant of a tugboat volunteer shares his family’s story on the BBC website.
Baker, whose new title is the secretary for service and volunteering, said "Government can't do it alone, and that's why I think the governor's smart to elevate” the role of citizen volunteers.
The governor was inspired to make the “radical” appointment, as Time magazine describes it, after watching volunteers in action during the October 2007 California wildfires and the November 2007 oil spill in San Francisco.
The timing may be just right. Since Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the country has seen volunteerism reach historic levels.
Blogging for New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune, John Pope applauds the overwhelming volunteer effort along the Gulf Coast during the two years since Hurricane Katrina. According to a federal report, Katrina volunteers have contributed services worth nearly $263 million.
Even untrained volunteers can make a difference according to experts quoted in a November 2005 New York Times article published in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Ophelia.
Kathy Bushkin of the AOL Time Warner Foundation told the Times that volunteering has become more common since Sept. 11. "We tapped into something so deep in people's need to do something," she said.
But heroic volunteerism is nothing new. When France fell to Nazi Germany in World War II, volunteers set out from the English coast in small private boats to rescue the British troops stranded on the other side of the Channel at Dunkirk. A descendant of a tugboat volunteer shares his family’s story on the BBC website.
Headline Link: California government recognizes volunteers
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has created a cabinet position to manage volunteers. Time magazine calls it a “radical” move because “even though regular people do the majority of rescuing after almost every major disaster, they are the last people to be intelligently enrolled in the process.”
Source: Time
Background: Volunteerism since Sept. 11 and Katrina
According to a 2007 story in the St. Petersburg Times, people have been volunteering at record levels since Sept. 11, 2001. But a 2007 report showed volunteer numbers dipped slightly in 2006.
Source: St. Petersburg Times
An NPR news story highlights the importance of the faith-based volunteers that have helped during the two years since Katrina. Listen to the story on NPR’s Web site.
Source: NPR
Energize, Inc., a Web site for leaders of volunteer programs, offers its perspective on volunteerism after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including the logistical issues surrounding the overwhelming number of people who wanted to help. “This is the one time during which no one minds being called a ‘volunteer,’” states the article, written just two weeks after the attacks.
Source: Energize, Inc.
Opinion & Analysis: Commending Katrina volunteers
In an August 2007 blog post on the Web site of New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune, writer John Pope paid tribute to the 1.1 million volunteers who have donated 14 million hours of their time to the Katrina effort during the two years since the storm.
Source: The Times-Picayune
Related Topics: Volunteerism 101
The San Jose Mercury News published a story about a Coast Guard report containing hundreds of recommendations for improvement after the uncoordinated response to the November 2007 San Francisco oil spill. According to the newspaper, “Hundreds of angry Bay Area residents were turned away” because they didn’t have the training required to help.
Source: Mercury News
After Sept. 11, philanthropy leaders learned how to best administer public aid, including how to utilize untrained volunteers. Those lessons were important in 2005 after Hurricanes Katrina and Ophelia. "The respite centers and mess tent at Ground Zero were a good venue for people who were well intentioned, but didn't need a lot of training," Armond T. Mascelli of the Red Cross said in a November 2005 New York Times story.
Source: New York Times (subscription may be required)
Historical Context: Volunteers in history
Volunteers have historically played an important role in disaster relief. Alexander Kenneth Josh contributed a story to the BBC’s archive of World War Two memories about the work of his father and brothers, who volunteered to man tugboats rescuing British troops during the evacuation of Dunkirk.
Source: The BBC
Reference: How to volunteer
Volunteering with the American Red Cross is as easy as finding a local Red Cross office and going through online orientation.
Source: Red Cross
findingDulcinea provides a guide to alternative spring break volunteer travel, including how to volunteer after national disasters.
Source: findingDulcinea
FindingDulcinea also has a guide to philanthropy and nonprofit organizations.
Source: findingDulcinea
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