Neighbors help each other during a disaster.
They might rush to the scene, volunteering their efforts and donating whatever’s needed. However, an unorganized onrush can overwhelm first responders during a hectic emergency response.
“Volunteers and donations can turn into a disaster within a disaster,” said Matthew Cain, director of Wayne County Emergency Management Agency.
Preparation is the best way to prevent that, and the Community Organizations Active in Disaster group is taking responsibility for Wayne County’s preparation. The COAD formed in July 2023, organizing community groups that can supply specific services valuable during a disaster. Cain said organizing volunteers and donations provides a perfect task for the COAD during a disaster, freeing the three-person EMA staff to use its expertise on other urgent tasks.
During the COAD’s May 12 meeting, Dana Mollenkopf updated participants about the COAD’s progress planning for a volunteer reception center during an emergency. Mollenkopf noted Winchester’s experiences after tornadoes struck the community March 14, 2024. Volunteers didn’t know where to go, and donations piled up unsorted and unused.
“People came in ready to go, and the community wasn’t ready for them,” Mollenkopf said. “It’s chaotic without a plan.”
Videos Mollenkopf showed said VRCs organize a spontaneous outpouring into safe, effective support without interfering with first responders. Having one site where volunteers rally enables organizers to match volunteers’ skills and abilities with needed tasks and to track volunteer hours when seeking federal aid.
Mollenkopf said Central United Methodist Church in Richmond has provided storage space for VRC equipment and has volunteered its multipurpose room for the VRC during a disaster. Mollenkopf has drawers on a wheeled rack that contain necessary materials for the different stations a VRC needs. The equipment is mobile to travel anywhere in Wayne County.
First English Lutheran Church in Richmond has agreed to serve as a site to organize donations. Mollenkopf hopes other churches might also accept and sort donations before delivering them to First English Lutheran. Once organized, donations can be taken closer to a disaster site, so impacted residents can get what they need without travel.
When a disaster occurs, the local community will respond first. Outside assistance will soon arrive, but those groups will eventually leave, making the community again responsible for itself. The VRC can continue throughout an extended recovery process.
Mollenkopf and others plan to attend a VRC training session May 21 in New Castle, and the COAD will be visible at such activities as the June 17 Flying Mummies baseball game at Richmond’s McBride Stadium and the Oct. 3 and 4 Fourth Street Fair in Richmond.
A version of this article appeared in the May 20 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.