Salem Katrina Team Report...November 15 evening

Team Leader Responsibilities.

I haven't seen anything from PDA so until you see something more official, you might consider this list.

First, the leader will have to recruit the team, building it around their availability to be offered to PDA. This work should also lead to the creation of your own church’s Disaster Response Organization if you haven’t already formed it for the possibility someday of a local emergency. It is handy if the team leader has the hands-on skills to also serve as a foreman, but in our case...I was the cook. More power!! More fun. Air conditioned!

2. Establish, then raise your budget. Try to get some from your own church's mission committee, but also consider approaching neighbor churches who aren't sending a team. Try to keep team members' costs low. We received $1150 from other churches and their members. The budget should cover travel at the disaster site, purchase of work materials unless provided by PDA (never enough!), extra money to help the PDA representative in his/her duties, a nice gift for your host church if it has had damage, food (our guideline was to try to spend less than $15 per person per day) and significant things you will purchase for your use. In our case we bought power water washers, respirators, kitchen equipment, microwaves, we donated a car, food, paper goods, televisions, LCD projector, etc. Our budget goal was $8500 but our wonderful church family and friends raised $13,100! More money equals more work at Gautier! Our goal was higher than some churches because we had a heavy fuel bill, driving down from Oregon.

3. Report your team as available to PDA, describing their talents. Fax them also...calls and messages get lost. We had to fax them a couple times...they're really busy.

4. Gather necessary equipment per the PDA team and individual checklists.

5. If you are driving to the disaster ask your destination PDA representative and host church what else is needed locally. We brought a U-Haul trailer and stuffed it with beautiful quilts a community group prepared and we also got some stuffed animals for kids...we had the space and they were great gifts for folks in Gautier.

6. Get to the assigned destination as cheaply as possible. Consider air travel as it saves, in many cases, days and days on the road which cost your members either vacation time or time at the disaster.

7. Try to bring or rent a vehicle for the team's use at the disaster site.

8. Try to raise enough money to give some to the PDA manager at the site for his/her discretionary use...they're not getting enough from PDA.

9. Make certain your team members have their tetanus and flu shots. Make certain they're healthy enough for the rigors of work and tenting in the fall and winter.

10. Represent your team and church to the PDA representative and the local church, so they only have one contact to work with, not everyone.

11. Watch your team's health while working. If they're having a hard time with the work or the weather, don't wait for them to ask for relief! Get them a lighter work load or consider letting them rest or return.

12. Once you've returned from your mission trip, try to keep raising funds for the PDA representatives you've met.

13. Its great to come with a morning devotional planned. At our camp we took volunteers each morning and evening, but in my own case that's something I'd have to prepare for.

14. Keep the folks we've come to help in your prayers, and tell them of your affections over the years. Don't lose these new friends.

15. Set up a blog. They are free at outfits such as www.blogger.com from Google and many, many other providers. Easy to use, they let you have a journal your whole church can follow as their team works the disaster. Here at our camp, we even have wireless Internet, so bring a laptop if you wish and your digital cameras.