I am a member of my town’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). I attended a meeting tonight and apparently, the total focus for the next few months will be H1N1 and the potential pandemic.
I have been involved in many volunteer activities and they all have similar problems. Most organizations never have enough people and the same small group of people does most of the work. People do not like to go to meetings and thus do not want to be on committees. Of course if you never meet and there is not a committee, how does the work get done?
The potential pandemic of H1N1 flu will require many volunteers. Because this will be a specific, time-limited crisis, the people who show up to help will get just-in-time training before they begin work. For ongoing projects of an institution or organization, this approach does not provide enough support.
I am a member of my local Medical Reserve Corps. We are trained to provide medical and other assistance in emergencies. This winter a terrible ice storm left neighboring towns without power or water for several days. For the Amherst MRC, this reinforced our understanding that helping people be better prepared for emergencies is a top priority.
