OLDS — Community services director Doug Wagstaff is pleased with response to the town’s call for volunteers, including those willing to help out in emergencies or disasters.
The town began asking for those volunteers late in the first week of January.
The so-called Olds Community Volunteer Bank is being created via the town’s Great Neighbours program which connects volunteers with groups and organizations that need their help.
“We’ve had about a dozen already. It only went up on Friday I think or late Thursday, so I would consider that a good, quick response,” Wagstaff said during town council’s Jan. 11 meeting.
He said the town will continue to advertise that opportunity “so we can have a good data base.”
Wagstaff said town officials not only received responses from people they know who regularly interact with the town but also found “some strong resources within our community that we weren’t aware of."
“It was shared this morning from the staff that are looking at the submissions that are coming in that sometimes there are things right underneath our nose or right before our faces that we’re not aware of until you’ve actually done another sort of a reach-out,” he said.
“So that was a good initial process, and we look for many more to come in.”
The Disaster Volunteer Registration Form notes on-site volunteers will be subject to screening questions regarding COVID-19.
