NACCHO staff member Alyson Jordan presented at and attended the 2014 Points of Light Conference on Volunteering and Service June 16-18 in Atlanta. The conference explored the use of volunteers to strengthen community infrastructure, and this year included an emergency preparedness track. Alyson presented a 90 minute workshop on NACCHO’s 2013 National Preparedness Month media campaign to increase volunteer recruitment for the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) on June 17.
A number of MRC unit leaders and partners were in attendance for the conference. Sessions in the emergency preparedness track highlighted the role of volunteers in disaster response, forming community coalitions after Hurricane Sandy, effective storytelling to demonstrate the impact of volunteers, and how to engage volunteers to conduct preparedness education to vulnerable communities. The conference also offered a number of important lessons learned about volunteer use that will be beneficial for the MRC project.
View slides from the presentation, “Using Media to Increase Volunteer Recruitment Before a Disaster Strikes.”