Supporting Disaster Relief Efforts as a Volunteer and Donor
An alumni story
December 14, 2021
Over the past three years, Dan O’Hara has joined us as a volunteer on our disaster relief programs in Dominica, Florida, Louisiana, Nepal, North Carolina, Peru, Puerto Rico and Texas. Having donated close to 2,000 hours of his time to support our programs around the world, his commitment to serving others is an inspiration. This commitment doesn’t stop at volunteering; through his impressive fundraising efforts and regular support as a donor, Dan (nickname Dano) has helped us ensure we can continue working with communities impacted by disasters to provide long term recovery-focused solutions. Below he shares why he believes All Hands and Hearts is deserving of his time and financial support, and why he’ll be contributing to our end of year giving campaign again this month.
Since I first volunteered with All Hands and Hearts in Texas in 2018, I’ve made a point of getting out to support their programs a few times a year. I was able to do this right up until February 2020 when I spent a week volunteering in Villacuri, Peru. I was due to volunteer on the Mexico Earthquake Relief program and Mozambique Tropical Cyclone Relief program in the months after, but global restrictions in response to COVID-19 meant I wasn’t able to. So, when I got the opportunity to volunteer again last month in LaPlace, Louisiana, I jumped at it. The Hurricane Ida Relief program was my eighth time volunteering with All Hands and Hearts and it felt like a homecoming of sorts; being back in my purple volunteer t-shirt as part of the amazing team of volunteers and staff there.
Volunteering and being of service to others is a big part of my life and I’m as keen to seek out local volunteer opportunities as I am to follow All Hands and Hearts around the world. In my own community, I often volunteer at my local food bank and I try to be available to support friends and neighbors if they need help moving or with home improvements. During the height of the pandemic, I volunteered at local vaccine distribution centers but I knew that I wanted to do more. After racking my brain to provide an outdoor space for families to enjoy together, I started a small “Fairy Village” which has now grown to over 200 houses!
Volunteering and being of service to others is a big part of my life and I’m as keen to seek out local volunteer opportunities as I am to follow All Hands and Hearts around the world. In my own community, I often volunteer at my local food bank and I try to be available to support friends and neighbors if they need help moving or with home improvements. During the height of the pandemic, I volunteered at local vaccine distribution centers but I knew that I wanted to do more. After racking my brain to provide an outdoor space for families to enjoy together, I started a small “Fairy Village” which has now grown to over 200 houses!
Knowing how committed I am to supporting this organization in particular, people often ask me why I continue giving them my time as a volunteer and my funds as a donor – and the truth is, there are so many reasons. Volunteering in a disaster-impacted region allows me to improve my knowledge and skills in disaster recovery techniques. After three years, it’s also become clear to me that you can’t put a price on spending time with like-minded volunteers from all sorts of backgrounds, united to help people recover after a disaster strikes. I’m always grateful for the opportunity to meet community members and see first-hand the impact donations can have. While volunteering in LaPlace, Louisiana last month, I was blown away by the community spirit. In the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Ida, we see neighbors showing up to help each other and these are the people I do the volunteer work for. These are the people I want to raise money to support, and All Hands and Hearts is the non-profit organization I entrust to empower me to do so.
As part of the preparation information received before arriving on program, volunteers are shown how they can help contribute to the costs of their stay, if they wish to, by making a donation directly to the program or setting up a fundraising page. This is completely optional, but I’ve always found that the fundraising pages I’ve set up on every program have been a great way to help offset the costs of the accommodation, food, tools, materials, transportation and management that make my program stays possible. It also gives my family and friends back home an opportunity to join me on my journey by donating in support of the excellent work being done. I find that people are more willing to give to good causes when they have a personal connection. I have fundraised as a volunteer on all eight programs whether that’s been setting my own personal goal or donating to a fellow volunteer’s fundraising page to help them hit their target.
When I look back at my time with All Hands and Hearts, my main memories revolve around how fun they were to be part of. A big part of that fun is how far volunteers and staff will push a fundraising strategy to further support the work being done. After eight programs, I’ve seen a lot – people having their hair shaved off, others offering to wash everyone’s dinner dishes or serving breakfast in bed to the highest bidder. The more creatively talented volunteers auction their artwork or create bespoke poems or songs and some brave volunteers have even sold dares. I was particularly impressed in Nepal when the staff team made good on their promise to put together a day of fun, complete with a Slip N Slide, for hitting our program fundraising goal. This was the year I ended up with my hair dyed purple!
In addition to all the fun silliness that comes with my volunteer fundraising efforts, I also make a more serious habit of supporting a number of charities, including All Hands and Hearts, at the end of the year when they tend to run their larger fundraising campaigns. I feel fortunate to have personally been involved in the incredible relief efforts which can only take place thanks to donations and I appreciate how transparent All Hands and Hearts is about how these are spent. They lay out their financials annually and support volunteers and donors to share their experience the right way via Ethical Storytelling training. I’m also really excited to learn that, this year, All Hands and Hearts’ Co-Founder, David Campbell, has offered to match all donations up to $100,000 made between December 7 and 31 meaning my usual annual contribution can have double the impact!
All of this and so much more are the reasons that I continue to support All Hands and Hearts both with my time as a volunteer and with my financial support. I look forward to the ways that I can stay involved with All Hands and Hearts in the new year, and I highly encourage you to do the same!
The theme of our 2021 end of year giving campaign is Start Here. It’s based on the belief that big change begins with a single step — one volunteer, one donation, one helping hand.
