All Hands Volunteers is the Beneficiary of our Louisiana Flooding Drive

On August 17th, Foundation Beyond Belief announced a Humanist Disaster Recovery Drive to raise funds for the recovery effort after the flooding in Louisiana, the worst U.S. natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy. Effects from the flooding include:

• More than 40,000 homes damaged
• Nearly a third of Louisiana's parishes declared disaster areas
• 70,000 applications for FEMA assistance submitted
• 13 fatalities recorded

Response and recovery organizations are on the ground in Louisiana, but they are experiencing donor and volunteer fatigue. The Louisiana recovery organizations are still rebuilding from Katrina after more than a decade, and their national counterparts are stretched thin by the flooding that occurred in south Texas in June and July. Since media attention drives people give their money and their time, the scant media coverage of the Louisiana flooding has only compounded the effects of this fatigue.

As humanists, we must do what we can to raise both awareness and funds. Since FBB launched our Louisiana Flooding drive only three days ago, humanists have donated thousands of dollars to benefit both our drive beneficiary and our own response with HDR Teams.

Now, Foundation Beyond Belief is announcing All Hands Volunteers as the beneficiary for this drive. FBB’s priority is on finding organizations that are effective not just at helping communities respond to disasters, but also helping them recover. All Hands Volunteers demonstrates a long-term commitment to communities impacted by disaster through its Respond, Recover, Renew model and has been recognized for this approach by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

All Hands Volunteers was among the first organizations to arrive on the scene and has been concentrating on the hard-hit areas of area of Denham Springs. Coordinating efforts with other NGOs, emergency officials, and other organizations, All Hands Volunteers teams are beginning the long process of “mucking and gutting,” cleaning out houses so that displaced families can return home. Every home worked on by All Hands Volunteers is visited by an assessment team, a muck/gut team, and a sanitation team.They currently have national and international volunteers on site and accept spontaneous volunteers, both day and residential. 

After people are safely back in their homes, the aim for All Hands Volunteers is to move on to the recovery phase of its work – working with local residents and organizations to rebuild the basic hubs of the affected communities. This recovery and rebuild phase is fueled by ongoing donations and therefore relies on financial support to progress beyond the response phase and into one in which long term recovery can be addressed. In accordance with their 100% model, All Hands Volunteers guarantees that all donations raised for Louisiana will go directly towards their response and recovery efforts on the ground.

All Hands Volunteers will receive all of the money that has been raised by the drive thus far and all additional funds that are raised until the drive is closed. Remember that Foundation Beyond Belief does not retain any portion of donations directed to our beneficiaries. If you wish to support the efforts of FBB itself, we are always grateful for direct donations. If you wish to support an upcoming Humanist Disaster Recovery (HDR) Teams deployment, you can do so here. (Both Louisiana and Texas have been hit hard by flooding in 2016 and are candidates for team deployment.)

Our Humanist Disaster Recovery Drives are a collaboration with the American Humanist Association (AHA). Thanks to the AHA for helping us raise visibility about these important efforts.

Links:

• NOLA Times-Picayune: Louisiana flood: Live updates, Wednesday road closures
• NPR: Catastrophic Floods In Louisiana Have Caused Massive Housing Crisis 
• CNN: Louisiana flood: Worst US disaster since Hurricane Sandy, Red Cross says
• The Washington Post: Louisiana flooding is the country’s ‘worst natural disaster’ since Hurricane Sandy, Red Cross says
• The Wall Street Journal: After Louisiana Flooding, 40,000 Homes Damaged and 4,000 People Still in Shelters

Please note: Foundation Beyond Belief does not retain any portion of donations directed to our beneficiaries. If you wish to support the efforts of FBB itself, we are always grateful for direct donations. Thank you!

*Any recurring contributions for disaster recovery drives, or one-time contributions that are received after a given drive is closed, may be directed to FBB general funds. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Drives are closed publicly and funds raised are announced publicly at the end of a drive.