Volunteers from across the county and from across the country
poured into Winston County to help after the April 28, 2014 tornado. Now, some fast
thinking and detailed documentation efforts in those early days have brought over
$300,000 into the County as a direct result of volunteers’ efforts.
EMA Director Buddy King, County Advisor Brenda Miles and Asst. EMA Director Jody Garrard |
According to Winston County Emergency Management
Administrator Buddy King, by properly documenting the time donated by all
individual and group volunteers, the County is eligible for FEMA reimbursement.
Said King, “We knew this benefit was there so by fully documenting over 35,000 hours of work, we were able to apply for a Donated Resources project related to the storm.”
Said King, “We knew this benefit was there so by fully documenting over 35,000 hours of work, we were able to apply for a Donated Resources project related to the storm.”
Any kind of volunteer hours were eligible to be included in
this project - from volunteers at the
Coliseum and emergency distribution centers, to volunteer fire departments, to
volunteer agencies such as Samaritans Purse, search and rescue and even yard
cleanup by volunteers.
King said, “We know some people were frustrated that they
had to go through a sign-in process, however to get the full benefit of their
volunteer efforts we had to have documentation.” King indicated that by
providing documentation, volunteers were able to, in effect, double the benefits
of their efforts.
Brenda Miles, the County’s financial advisor, indicated that
cooperation by volunteers and volunteer organizations was key. “Volunteers
completed sign in sheets and recorded their time. The sign in sheets helped us
to produce spreadsheets required to meet FEMA requirements for documentation
purposes. We filled several 4 inch binders.” indicated Miles.
12.5% of the $345,000 project is a required match by the
County, however $301,812 will be received from FEMA and MEMA. The Donated
Resources project is one of 13 projects totaling more than $23 million
associated with repair and recovery after the April 28, 2014 storm did
significant damage across the County.