Vets head to the Philippines
Pinto Nag sends us a link to an NBC News article which noticed that US veterans, namely Team Rubicon are headed to the Philippines to help in the relief efforts there;
Team Rubicon, which is made up of military veterans who work with first responders, prepared packages of food, supplies and medical items over the weekend and will begin rebuilding communities throughout the Philippines, affiliate NBC News Los Angeles reported.
“People are going to be dying of thirst as they’re surrounded by water,” said team member Jacob Wood. “There’s a level of irony that’s just truly tragic.”
Team Rubicon members have been to floods, earthquake-ravaged Haiti, war zones like Pakistan and Sudan, and other places in need of aid.
I’ve had the pleasure of hoisting a few with Team Rubicon members, and I smile every time I read about their latest exploits. They’re usually on the ground before the US government can get out of it’s own way. You can read about their progress at their blog.
Category: Veterans in the news
Amazing organization. I don’t know how they do it. Their sponsorship is light and, presumably, their highly trained volunteers are employed f/t somewhere.
This is the first time I’ve ever run across anything about Team Rubicon. I was impressed with what I read about them, both in the article and on their website.
Wow, one helluva group, I’m impressed!
On the news this morning, the report was that there were already 90 Marines over there working on clearing areas and finding people and the Navy is sending an aircraft carrier to the area.
The storm surge was 40 feet. That is higher than the tidal wave that washed over Fukushima province (33feet) in the 2011 earthquake. And Tacloban and other areas do look exactly like they were hit by tidal waves. There is NOTHING left but rubble and destruction.
I’ve supported Team Rubicon for almost 2 years. They are a fantastic organization that’s a win in every way. They help people during a disaster, taxpayers get more for their training money as they use their skills to volunteer, and the vets are given a purpose post-military, which is the main purpose of the organization.
They now have over 13,000 volunteers signed up.
My son had the pleasure of volunteering with them a few months ago when Colorado was hit by devastating flooding. It inspired him to sign up for EMT classes and apply to become a firefighter. He is also a regular donor.
@1 – Most of them either have flexible jobs, like being self-employed, or take vacation or personal days, as my son did.
In addition to the team in the Philippines, they are currently deployed to Texas to help with flooding there.
They are one of the best groups to donate to.
As a member of this outstanding organization for the last couple of years (and currently on standby for the PI) I can say that the good it does our Veterans and communities grows every day.
@1 There are some self-employed, some F/T (who take leave to deploy like me) and some who are college students. The great thing is that there is no requirement to deploy, just the opportunity. No matter where the disaster is, there are a slew of hard-charging individuals just chomping at the bit to get involved.