By DANI ELLE BRISSETTE

LINCOLN — Representatives from the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency in association with the American Red Cross, the Volunteer Center of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Citizen Corps were scattered throughout the state on Saturday for a statewide Volunteer and Recruitment Training Fair, known as “Get Ready RI.”

“It’s a statewide fair happening to increase the volunteer base on both local municipalities and statewide,” said Brittan Bates of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. “We’re looking to just get more people to volunteer to help out in times of emergencies.”
“People need to know is that there is a need for volunteers,” said Janice Pothier Pac, executive director of the Volunteer Center of Rhode Island. “We always need volunteers.”
“One question I’ve been getting from everybody is ‘Who should volunteer?’ Everybody should volunteer. We need people of all ages and all shapes and sizes, so to speak,” added Bates.
Among the fair locations was the CCRI Flanagan Campus in which a variety of disaster and emergency response organizations were available to discuss volunteer opportunities with attendees.
“We like for people to volunteer in advance of [emergencies] because it’s easier to learn when you’re not in a crisis,” Bates said. “Volunteers can sign up with local cities and towns to join their shelter teams, search and rescue teams or community emergency response teams in addition to joining with us at some state shelters. There are amazing state teams in very specific areas [to choose from.]” said Bates.
“History shows that in Katrina, people came out to help, but we’d like to identify people ahead of time, match them up with the volunteer opportunities that exist and get them the training that’s needed to be able to do it,” said Pac.
According to Bates, “Get Ready RI” is one of Rhode Island’s major hurricane preparedness and volunteer recruitment events this year. The fair offers potential volunteers a chance to become educated about the need for volunteerism at various organizations and become familiarized with the training process and requirements.
Another primary reason for the fair, Bates says, is to secure enough volunteers and eventually execute mock disaster situations, which will enable the various nonprofit organizations involved to identify and weaknesses in their methods and strengthen and improve their communication skills, which will offer more preparation in the event of actual crisis situations.
“We’ll be practicing how we communicate and finding out where all the gaps are in all the shelters in Rhode Island,” explained Bates. “Preparation is the best response and now is the time to learn.”
For more information about becoming a disaster relief volunteer, visit www.vcri.org or www.riredcross.org.