Helping Houston: Don’t try it on your own

Sept. 01--Thinking of driving to Houston to help hurricane survivors?

Jeff Parish, director of the Lawrence County Emergency Management Agency, said that's not such a good idea.

Parish said his office has received many calls from good-hearted people who would like to go to Houston to help out. But he warned volunteers against striking out on their own.

"Sometimes people think we are mean," he said, but his office is warning that volunteers who get injured in the dangerous flooding situation could face problems having their medical bills covered by insurance if they are not working with an organization.

On its Facebook page, Parish's department carries a post from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that warns that the state of Texas is asking volunteers not to "self-dispatch," explaining that "unexpectedly showing up to any of the communities that have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey will create an additional burden for first responders."

Instead, would-be volunteers are advised to register with a volunteer or charitable organization that already has people in the disaster area.

Those interested ican search the Voluntary Organization Active in Disasters' (VOAD) Texas chapter's list of community and faith-based organizations helping with the hurricane relief. To view the list, go to txvoad.communityos.org/cms/home/org. Or go to the VOAD website to find links to the list .

The VOAD website explains that volunteers going on their own could be turned away by law enforcement. Instead, volunteers should only go into an affected area "with a specific volunteer assignment, proper safety gear and valid identification."

Parish advised people can also find information on FEMA's web page at www.fema.gov and said they can also watch the Lawrence County Department of Public Safety's Facebook page for any posting of needs.

FEMA has sign-ups on its website for people to serve as temporary employees to help in disasters, including being a customer representative to help disaster victims sign up for assistance, or to be a "reservist" on call for when they are needed.

Parish said that so far his office has not received any request from FEMA for his employees to provide help in Texas. But he said such requests might yet come because "This is going to be a long, drawn-out process."

He said the county is part of Region 13, which spans an area from Venango to Green County and if requested, the counties in the region could quickly put together a large group with just a few people from each county.

He said that his office and the local Swiftwater Rescue Team were deployed several years ago for flooding in Harrisburg.

The FEMA website at www.fema.gov states that the best way to get fast help to victims is to "give cash to trusted organizations."

Dan Tobin of The Red Cross of Western Pennsylvania, which serves Lawrence and several other counties, said Thursday it has deployed 39 people and four vehicles to Houston to help with "sheltering." He said the Red Cross always needs volunteers. But he said that if you volunteer today, "you are probably not going to Texas."

He explained each volunteer is trained to help out in his or her own community and once trained, is eligible for future deployment to disasters such as the Houston flooding. He said to get started, go to redcross.org and type in your zip code to see volunteering opportunities in your area. The website will direct volunteers on how to sign up.

"There is a lot of training, background checks, things like that," he said. He noted "A lot of our volunteers today came from Katrina." He explained they were people who wanted to help with that hurricane but instead were taken on board to train for future needs.

Tobin said the best way to help the Red Cross is to make a monetary donation. "It helps right away."

To donate, go to redcross.org, or mail a check to the Pittsburgh office at 2801 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, 15222 or text HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Finally, state Rep. Chris Sainato posted on Facebook Thursday a warning to avoid getting scammed when giving to hurricane victims.

He said the Federal Trade Commission warns donors to avoid charities that refuse to provide detailed information about their identity, mission, costs and how the donation will be used, that won't provide proof the donation is tax deductible, that use a name very similar to a well-known organization, thanks you for a pledge you don't remember making, uses high-pressure tactics to get you to donate, or offers to send a courier to collect a donation.

He suggested checking out an organization on The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator or Guidestar websites.

m_grzebieniak@ncnewsonline.com

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