2019 has been an active year for extreme weather and our volunteers are always eager to serve impacted communities. For that, we thank you! We’re thrilled by the enthusiasm of our volunteer base. Many of you are curious how and when we make the decision to deploy. So, here is a quick overview of the process we follow to make that determination.

Local first responders and community officials spend the first 24 hours checking on their residents and making their own assessments of damage and needs. We have a process in place to work with local officials in assessing feeding needs, but that process may take up to 48 hours as the need may be slow to materialize.

OBR’s niche is “mass feeding” in communities that cannot sustain themselves in the initial aftermath of a catastrophic event. While most weather events impact some number of people and our hearts go out to those affected, it doesn’t necessarily translate into a “mass feeding” need. Our assessment process includes many people and takes many variables into account. Ultimately, if a community can take care of itself, then it’s important that we don’t disrupt the healing process and impact the local businesses as they try to recover as well.

What can you do? Watch our social media pages for updates. We try our best to proactively post on social media as soon as possible after a catastrophic event, even if it’s just to let everyone know that we’re monitoring the situation. But most importantly, ensure that you have the free OBR Volunteers app downloaded to your smart device. We push deployment notifications out via the app to our entire volunteer base, and you can use the app to keep your contact information up to date. The OBR Volunteers app is available for download; simply click below for the appropriate system based on your device:

• Apple Users click here
• Android Users click here

Stan Hays
CEO and Co-Founder
(816) 876-9019

Will Cleaver
COO/CFO and Co-Founder
(913) 226-6972

www.operationbbqrelief.org