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by Daniel Berger.
Original Post: Random thought about Katrina, volunteerism
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This entry isn't about assigning blame or what went wrong with the response to Katrina.
Instead, it's about what we, the average civilian, can do in the future. Now, I know many of you gave money for the relief effort, and that's good. However, in situations like that, what is needed more than money, at least in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe, is *people*. Most civilians, however, simply cannot leave their jobs to go help out. Most wouldn't know what to do once they got there anyway.
That got me thinking about the Military Reserve system. For the non-U.S. folk reading this, our military reserve consists of civilians who serve in some branch of the military one weekend a month and two weeks a year during peacetime. During war they can be called up by the government on a more permanent basis, but their civilian jobs are guaranteed while they're on active duty.
And *that* got me thinking - couldn't we setup something similar for civilians and relief efforts? In other words, you would "enlist" with one of the major relief organizations - FEMA, Red Cross, whatever - and one weekend a month and two weeks a year (or whatever), you would do relief training. If relief effort was needed, you would be called up to active duty, as it were, while your job would still be guaranteed.
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