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Release Date: May 29, 2008
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: Brendan Lacivita (202) 572-8878
New Orleans, LA. – General Doug O’Dell, federal coordinator of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding (OFC), today spoke in New Orleans to participants of the White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at a conference designed to explore ways to strengthen and expand the role of non-profits in disaster response and preparedness.
“Faith-based and community organizations play a critical role in the long-term rebuilding process of the Gulf Coast region,” said O’Dell. “The contributions of time and effort from thousands of your volunteers have helped speed up the recovery and that attitude of neighbor helping neighbor, and in many cases neighbor helping stranger, have not gone unnoticed.”
O’Dell used the conference as an opportunity to both praise those who have volunteered and encourage those who have not to help with the recovery effort. Statistics show that more than one million people volunteered in the Gulf Coast the first two years after Katrina, contributing more than 14 million hours of service, and that more people volunteered in the second year after Katrina (600,000 in 2007) than in the first year (550,000 in 2006).
The two-day conference, hosted by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), explores ways to strengthen disaster recovery efforts through expanded partnerships with America’s non-profit sector. In recognition of National Hurricane Preparedness Week, the conference also emphasized the critical and increasing role of faith-based and community organizations, and their armies of volunteers, in response and rebuilding plans for future disasters.
“When disaster strikes, America’s non-profits are indispensable allies in the effort to help rebuild distressed communities,” OFBCI Director Jay Hein stated. “Following Hurricane Katrina, these frontline armies of compassion offered extraordinary help to their neighbors in need and continue to do so today. This conference spotlights the successes of these kindhearted volunteers, as we explore ways to extend their reach now and in the event of future disasters. O’Dell and Hein suggested that those interested in volunteering go to www.volunteer.gov, the official government website that organizes volunteer opportunities.
The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding has been engaged in facilitating and streamlining the recovery effort, providing key federal support and resources to state and local leaders, as well as reinforcing the federal government’s commitment to the people of the Gulf Coast.
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This page was last reviewed/modified on May 29, 2008.
