Technology Altered Charitable and Volunteering Industries in 2013
It is day four and the rain hasn€¬€t stopped. I am amazed at the moisture, since I have never seen rain like this in Colorado. Susan and I are getting apartment fever. From our windows, we see the puddles continue to grow into small ponds. There is a break in the weather, and we have to get out and walk. Crayfish are on the sidewalks. Streams are breaking their banks, reforming the land. Sirens are blaring in all directions. It is time to get back home. We don€¬€t want to be a statistic or put someone else at risk.
The news says bridges and roads are gone. Emergency flashes across the bottom of the screen read, €¬…€There is a 5-foot wall of water moving towards Longmont. The latest count is that 12 dams have been breached.€¬ My mind goes into survival mode.
And that was the easy part for Maikel Wise.
That excerpt is from a story Wise wrote for Yahoo News this month. He and his wife, Susan, live in Longmont, Colo., where mid-September floodwaters briefly turned parts of the northern Colorado town into a lake after days of torrential rains. Record-deep waters rushed through 17 counties along 200 miles of the state€¬€s north-south corridor, caused $1 billion in damage and killed eight. Many roads connecting Colorado€¬€s more remote towns won€¬€t be repaired for months.
But as tough as withstanding the storm was, the aftermath posed more immense challenges. Enter the volunteers. About 450 residents, including the Wises, pitched in through the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers organization. Relief efforts began almost immediately. Wise remembers:
The clock is ticking. We have less than 72 hours before the mold moves in and possibly evicts the current tenants permanently. The flooded basement has swollen furniture that has to be cut up since it is too heavy to move. We don€¬€t want to use electrical equipment because we may get electrocuted. The basement humidity is so high that I perpetually sweat. I get blisters on top of blisters and hope my now-ripped rubber gloves still provide some protection from the bacteria that certainly is everywhere. Nancy and her husband, Frank, are holding it together. I never see them cry when they pick up a picture on the floor, but they are not smiling too much either.
Over the next three days many of us show up. Thousands of pounds of wet carpet, electronics, wet wall (formally dry wall) and boxes of treasures are moved outside to be sorted. Most items are thrown away. The street is overflowing with decaying possessions and looks like a war zone.
Wise€¬€s story is like many volunteers€¬€ experiences in 2013: a dirty, visceral, roll-up-your-sleeves effort to help neighbors and others who suffered tremendous loss after tragedies and disasters. And this year saw plenty of need: continued Sandy cleanup, the Boston bombings, western U.S. wildfires, Midwestern tornadoes, the Texas fertilizer plant explosion, the typhoon in the Philippines and more.
Related: Healing the land, building community
Despite technological innovation in the philanthropic world and billions given annually, old-fashioned boots-on-the-ground campaigns are still necessary. Indeed, not all charity is accomplished by writing a check or texting a donation.
€¬…€In America, we have this unique opportunity and interest to serve,€¬ says Wendy Spencer, the head of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that works with 5 million volunteers, including AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. €¬…€It€¬€s in our DNA. It€¬€s what we wake up and do. We want to help others.€¬
About 27 percent of Americans age 16 and older €¬‚¬ roughly 65 million of us €¬‚¬ volunteer at least once a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Volunteers spend a median of 50 hours assisting others annually. Women help more than men, married couples more than singles, and, at 32 percent, 35- to 44-year-olds volunteer the most.
Volunteers help themselves, too. Spencer says 2013 data shows that the unemployed who volunteer increase the likelihood of landing work by 27 percent. In rural areas, it jumps to 55 percent.
€¬…€It levels the playing field,€¬ she says.
How did you help in 2013?
Continue this conversation: If you volunteered or helped raise funds after a tragedy or natural disaster €¬‚¬ even if it didn€¬€t generate big headlines €¬‚¬ we€¬€re interested in your story. Join our conversation on Facebook and share your €¬…€how I helped€¬ story and photos.
Related: Read more stories from Sandy volunteers in New York and New Jersey:
Helping our Jersey neighbors, long after Hurricane Sandy left
Hurricane Sandy disaster relief with Oxford College's alternative spring break
Building houses, rebuilding lives after Sandy
The news says bridges and roads are gone. Emergency flashes across the bottom of the screen read, €¬…€There is a 5-foot wall of water moving towards Longmont. The latest count is that 12 dams have been breached.€¬ My mind goes into survival mode.
And that was the easy part for Maikel Wise.
That excerpt is from a story Wise wrote for Yahoo News this month. He and his wife, Susan, live in Longmont, Colo., where mid-September floodwaters briefly turned parts of the northern Colorado town into a lake after days of torrential rains. Record-deep waters rushed through 17 counties along 200 miles of the state€¬€s north-south corridor, caused $1 billion in damage and killed eight. Many roads connecting Colorado€¬€s more remote towns won€¬€t be repaired for months.
But as tough as withstanding the storm was, the aftermath posed more immense challenges. Enter the volunteers. About 450 residents, including the Wises, pitched in through the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers organization. Relief efforts began almost immediately. Wise remembers:
The clock is ticking. We have less than 72 hours before the mold moves in and possibly evicts the current tenants permanently. The flooded basement has swollen furniture that has to be cut up since it is too heavy to move. We don€¬€t want to use electrical equipment because we may get electrocuted. The basement humidity is so high that I perpetually sweat. I get blisters on top of blisters and hope my now-ripped rubber gloves still provide some protection from the bacteria that certainly is everywhere. Nancy and her husband, Frank, are holding it together. I never see them cry when they pick up a picture on the floor, but they are not smiling too much either.
Over the next three days many of us show up. Thousands of pounds of wet carpet, electronics, wet wall (formally dry wall) and boxes of treasures are moved outside to be sorted. Most items are thrown away. The street is overflowing with decaying possessions and looks like a war zone.
Wise€¬€s story is like many volunteers€¬€ experiences in 2013: a dirty, visceral, roll-up-your-sleeves effort to help neighbors and others who suffered tremendous loss after tragedies and disasters. And this year saw plenty of need: continued Sandy cleanup, the Boston bombings, western U.S. wildfires, Midwestern tornadoes, the Texas fertilizer plant explosion, the typhoon in the Philippines and more.
Related: Healing the land, building community
Despite technological innovation in the philanthropic world and billions given annually, old-fashioned boots-on-the-ground campaigns are still necessary. Indeed, not all charity is accomplished by writing a check or texting a donation.
€¬…€In America, we have this unique opportunity and interest to serve,€¬ says Wendy Spencer, the head of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that works with 5 million volunteers, including AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. €¬…€It€¬€s in our DNA. It€¬€s what we wake up and do. We want to help others.€¬
About 27 percent of Americans age 16 and older €¬‚¬ roughly 65 million of us €¬‚¬ volunteer at least once a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Volunteers spend a median of 50 hours assisting others annually. Women help more than men, married couples more than singles, and, at 32 percent, 35- to 44-year-olds volunteer the most.
Volunteers help themselves, too. Spencer says 2013 data shows that the unemployed who volunteer increase the likelihood of landing work by 27 percent. In rural areas, it jumps to 55 percent.
€¬…€It levels the playing field,€¬ she says.
How did you help in 2013?
Continue this conversation: If you volunteered or helped raise funds after a tragedy or natural disaster €¬‚¬ even if it didn€¬€t generate big headlines €¬‚¬ we€¬€re interested in your story. Join our conversation on Facebook and share your €¬…€how I helped€¬ story and photos.
Related: Read more stories from Sandy volunteers in New York and New Jersey:
Helping our Jersey neighbors, long after Hurricane Sandy left
Hurricane Sandy disaster relief with Oxford College's alternative spring break
Building houses, rebuilding lives after Sandy
