Disaster Services

As stated in the North Carolina Emergency Operations Plan, The Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service (VolunteerNC) is the lead organization supporting the NC Emergency Management (NCEM) with donations and volunteer management activities during activation, including donated goods and cash. Our disaster programs operate in three of the four phases of the disaster cycle. 

Preparedness activities are performed throughout the year. In this role we support with the recruitment and training of Community Emergency Response (CERT) groups and we attend yearly hurricane preparedness expos across our state, as well as we host disaster preparedness trainings. 
During the Response Phase, our office follows the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) activation, as we are part of the State Emergency Respond Team. In this phase our role is to 

• Manage unaffiliated volunteers, unsolicited donations, and undesignated monetary donations. 
•  Appoint the State Donations Management Coordinator
•  Develop the public messaging for donations and volunteer needs
• Activate the NC disaster relief fund 
• Help manage the platform used for donations and volunteer management, NeedsList. 
• Support with the management of the scheduler polls to help coordinate volunteer shifts for state shelters

Once the response phase is over, we immediately transition to support in the recovery phase. The activities we perform in this phase include,

• Ensure all donations are distributed among recovery organizations supporting the impacted communities.
• Assist with NeedsList registration, training, and troubleshooting issues.   
• Remain cognizant of the disaster the community needs to support in addressing these needs

Who are our partners?

We understand we cannot accomplish our mission alone. For this reason, we partner with nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and governmental and private entities. We work closely with the North Carolina Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and its members.

NeedsList is a resource-matching platform that allows relief organizations to post relevant needs and offers. The platform can automatically match resources and needs, allowing immediate coordination for the exchange of the goods and services. The NeedsList platform is the product of a collaboration between the North Carolina Organizations Active in Disaster (NCVOAD) and VolunteerNC, funded by the Duke Energy Foundation.

More Resources

NC Disaster Relief Fund 

The Office of the Governor recognizes the desire of many individuals, groups, corporations, and philanthropic organizations to help others whose lives have been affected by a disaster. Many nonprofit voluntary organizations active in disaster response and recovery efforts encourage individuals to make financial donations to be used to help meet the needs of survivors, rather than donating products that may – or may not – be needed. Financial donations can be used to support specific needs and help communities recover more quickly by supporting the local economy.

For this reason, the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund (NCDRF) was established in 1999 to help raised funding to support communities affected by a disaster. The initial purpose of the NCDRF was to ensure survivors received help with immediate needs that were not covered by FEMA or other state, federal or nonprofit programs. Through an established process, NCDRF awards grant funding to member organizations of NC Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NCVOAD) who are engaged in long-term recovery efforts. The United Way of North Carolina serves as a fiscal agent and is responsible for the administration and distribution of the funds. 
What sets this relief fund apart from many others is that no administrative fees or overhead costs are charged to NCDRF, so 100% of each donation is distributed to meet the needs of survivors.

The NCDRF is activated only after a significant weather event, including hurricanes, tornadoes, excessive rain resulting in mudslides, forest fires, or any other natural disaster that occurs within or affects the state. When the need to activate the NCDR arrives, information about how to donate will be posted on this page and other state agencies websites.