Volunteers Step Up to Help Flood Ravaged Queensland
14 January 2011 at 2:08 pm
Volunteering Queensland has doubled its call centre capacity to cope with the number of calls from people wanting to help out in the wake of the Queensland floods.
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| Flickr Image: Some rights reserved by SunriseOn7 |
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that more than 11,000 volunteers have signed up to offer their assistance since yesterday with Volunteering Queensland.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Fairfax Radio Network that it’s heart-warming to see Australians working together to help the victims of the Queensland floods.
Gillard said there is a real spirit of volunteering right around the nation, and described the way volunteers have stepped forward to help out as tremendously heart-warming.
Volunteering Qld CEO, Jelenko Dragisic, commended the community for their outpouring of support, and says at this stage, Volunteering Qld is collecting all details of willing volunteers through the CREW (Community Response to Extreme Weather) Register.
Dragisic says the register records the skills, location and availability of the volunteer and Volunteering QLD is linking willing volunteers with disaster management agencies across Queensland, dependent on what volunteer support they require.
Volunteers registered with CREW are currently being connected with opportunities at Brisbane City Council and the Red Cross.
Dragisic says they appreciate both the patience and compassion of willing volunteers and encourage those not yet placed not to get disheartened, the recovery process will take a long time and assistance will be required in many different forms.
The CREW team are taking registrations on 1800 994 100 or online at volunteeringqld.org.au (If the website is unavailable, due to heavy traffic, please register at http://bit.ly/VolQLDCREW)
Vanessa Codling from Volunteering Queensland told the Sydney Morning Herald they have been inundated with calls from people wanting to volunteer, registering 11,000 people yesterday.
The majority of the work for volunteers will come when the flood waters have receded and the task of cleaning up gets underway.
Brisbane Lord Mayor has called for owners of heavy equipment such as earth movers and Bobcats to volunteer in the clean up of Brisbane’s streets.
People with heavy equipment can email Campbell Newman directly at lordmayor@brisbane.qld.gov.au
On Friday, 14 January I submitted an offer of free accommodation on your website. I know it may be too early yet to expect a response but I’d like to confirm that I approached the right agency for this type of offer. So that valuable time is not lost I would appreciate it if you could confirm that my offer is being processed. Many thanks & best wishes on your very worthwhile work.
William.
We would love to send some amazing volunteers to help with clean-up efforts in Australia- and we are always looking for wonderful hosts/hostels and accommodations for these volunteers. I would be very interested in speaking with you William. Feel free to contact me at globalvoluntourism@gmail.com
Hi William,
Thanks for your show of support, however we are not involved in the flood relief efforts in QLD.
To offer your support, please visit http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/
Thanks,
Pro Bono Australia News Team
Would like to offer our house 2 bedrooms with double beds own facilities and shared kitchen with the owners. We are a retired couple and my husband and I would like to help out people who are in need of a break from theire flood disastors.We would love to have them stay in our home and look after them.
christine markulev 0402483960
or 03.55295403