Volunteering and Donations

Volunteering Queensland's Emergency Volunteering CREW links people who want to help out before and after disasters with councils and community organisations who need valuable extra helping hands.

Emergency Volunteer CREW make sure people with the required skills, availability and locality are referred into the areas of the community that need help the most.

The difference that you can make to a disaster-affected family, community group or business is immeasurable - even months and years after an extreme weather event.

You can offer to help by registering with Emergency Volunteering CREW at any time.

When you register for Emergency Volunteer CREW, you will enter information which determines what kind of volunteer role you are linked to. This includes:

• Contact details
• What skills you can offer (e.g. medical, trade, counselling, IT)
• What equipment you can bring (e.g. portable accommodation, chainsaw, generator, tools, machinery)
• Your availability (timeframe, days, location)

Why is this important? If a group of people have chainsaws, it makes sense for them to be referred somewhere that needs help removing fallen trees, rather than somewhere that needs help sorting donations. If you have trade qualifications, these skills are valuable for assessing and repairing flood damaged houses.

If you don't receive a call straight after a disaster, don't think you are not needed! There are more opportunities for volunteering with long-term recovery projects in the weeks, months and years following a disaster, not just during the initial clean-up.

Donations

After a disaster, please don't drop off donated goods to the affected area. Unrequested donations can be difficult to manage and take up valuable time and resources.

Council has partnered with GIVIT, an online non-profit organisation that manages donations to make sure people and communities get exactly what they need, when they need it.

The GIVIT website lists items required by people affected by a disaster. You can select an item and choose to either donate or fund it. You can also list an item for donation or give money that will be used to buy exactly what is needed. 100% of publicly donated money received by GIVIT is used to purchase essential items and services.