Opportunities From: HandsOn Maui

As a Distribution of Emergency Supplies (DES) volunteer, you'll be stationed at a location in the community (usually a Red Cross office, warehouse, or local school). Members from the public that need assistance will be directed to that location where you'll be able to provide supplies. The supplies may include things like: clean-up kits, tents/tarps, food, water, etc.

You will need to be physically able to work in the weather, and lift 20-50lbs multiple times during your shift. Shifts can range between 4-12hrs depending on how much support we have. 

When housing is disrupted in communities after a disaster, it can be difficult for some people to find new long-term housing. The Shelter Resident Transition Team helps shelter residents create personalized plans to overcome roadblocks and transition to new housing. They play a critical role in reducing disaster-caused displacement and aiding in long-term recovery for individuals. 

If you want to alleviate human suffering by shortening the time of disaster caused displacement, this is the perfect role for you!

Disaster Action Team (DAT) Duty Officers are the behind-the-scenes heroes who coordinate local emergency responses in real time. From the comfort of your home, you’ll ensure that people affected by disasters receive the care and support they need by dispatching volunteers to the scene.

If you are comfortable talking on the phone with new people, learning new computer applications, and can keep folks organized this is the perfect role for you! 

In this role, you'll receive calls from first-responders that are on scene at small-scale local disasters, like home fires. You'll collect the information about the event, how many people/pets need assistance and how bad the damage is. Then, you'll call the Disaster Action Team members that are on-call and respond in-person to provide assistance.

As a logistics Team Member you'll work before, during, or after a disaster to ensure that we have the supplies we need, in the places we need them. There are several options:

Transportation Volunteer- When disaster responders from across the country respond to a disaster, they need access to reliable transportation to meet the needs of the community effectively. Transportation Service Associates serve as a part of the logistics team by coordinating the maintenance, inventory control and servicing of vehicles used during a response.

Fulfillment Volunteer- When disaster responders from across the country respond to a disaster, they need access to reliable transportation to meet the needs of the community effectively. Transportation Service Associates serve as a part of the logistics team by coordinating the maintenance, inventory control and servicing of vehicles used during a response.

Sourcing volunteer- The Sourcing Service Associate is an operational position and is assigned temporarily to support Disaster Cycle Services Logistics on a disaster relief operation (DRO). This position receives, obtains, and delivers materials and services requested from DRO teams. This position supports the mission of the American Red Cross by deploying mission critical supplies and materials requested from other DRO functional groups and ensuring financial alignment with the Service Delivery Plan.

This position is great for those that enjoy educating others and public speaking. Former teachers, coaches, education students, pastors, group leaders, etc. In your role, you will learn our Community Education Presentations for the programs below, and teach members of the public how to prepare.

Presentations are scheduled in the community based on their needs, but are scheduled in advance. They generally take 1-2hrs, and you'll have a team member with you so you're not alone. 

When a large-scale disaster impacts a community, multiple agencies and resources come together to provide response and recovery support. As a Community Engagement & Partnerships (CEP) Service Associate you’ll connect with local partners to build capacity, coordinate activities, and ensure that all disaster-affected communities have access to Red Cross services.

Your role involves implementing the CEP plan, engaging with organizations, and supporting multi-agency collaborative efforts to promote regional engagement and inclusive partnerships.

This position is great for those that are well known in the community they'll be supporting. Those that network, lead groups, do public speaking, etc. are great candidates for this high-need role. 

Every day, seven people die in home fires, most often in homes without working smoke alarms. That’s why the American Red Cross launched our Home Fire Campaign in 2014 to save lives.

Through our home visits, we’ve installed more than 2.2 million free smoke alarms and prepared more than 2.5 million people for home fires.

You can join the American Red Cross today as a volunteer installing fire alarms in the homes of those that need them most in our communities across the island.

This opportunity is great for teams of 2-4 people. Someone will be the documenter, the safety educator, the installer and the assistant. You'll install smoke alarms in the home, help the renter or owner to draw up an evacuation plan, practice a 2-minute escape drill and perform a safety check to ensure there are no obvious fire hazards in the home.

As a shelter volunteer, you'll help provide clients with comfort and safety after disasters by supporting the day-to-day activities within a shelter. This may include working in reception, registration, feeding, dormitory, information, or other areas within a shelter.

One person can hold both of the roles below. In general, the Red Cross doesn't do feeding at emergency shelters. They are just evacuation sites. However, if we have a large-scale disaster like a hurricane that displaces people for weeks/months, we would do feeding and would need community support.

Our current shelters need to be reevaluated every two years, and we also would like to identify new locations for shelters across the islands (Maui, Molokai, Lanai). While this work is done sporadically, it's crucial to our mission.

Feeding Surveyor: As a Feeding Surveyor, you'll identify food sources to provide meals for shelters. You'll go out into the community and connect with business owners (restaurants, caterers, Private Chefs) and work with them to determine:

Sheltering Surveyor: Similar to the above role, you'll go out in the community and either do a survey for a new location, or you'll reevaluate our current shelters to determine if anything has changed.

Disaster Mental Health Responders- Respond virtually and in-person to local disasters. You may work in a shelter, or on a Disaster Action Team as well as supporting those operations virtually. There are options for deployment in this role as well, but it is not required. If you deploy, you'll need to be available for 2 weeks at a time.

Position is available to: 

A Disaster Assessment Volunteer responds after a disaster, assesses damage by collecting and recording information on the effects of the disaster and observing conditions and degrees of damage. The information that is collected is then used to provide funding to those that need it for repairs or moving costs.

Responsibilities:

Qualifications:

When disaster strikes your community, Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteers are the first to respond—bringing comfort, care, and critical resources like food and shelter to those in need. Join this vital team by signing up for on-call shifts and helping ensure 24-hour emergency support is always just a phone call away for your neighbors.

Hear firsthand why others have volunteered in this role. Training is free and the experience is priceless.