Please note that you must be 18 years of age and be a member of a Southern Baptist church to be certified as a Disaster Relief Volunteer. All trainees must have a letter of recommendation from their pastor or Director of Missions. Please click here for the form letter we are asking to be used. The letter will be required when the person is trained in “Intro” for the first time or has cross training for the first time and at the time of retraining every three years. It will not be necessary when training in an additional area. Those training for chaplain must have the chaplain specific letter of recommendation.All trainees will be asked to sign a form to authorize a background check. The Introduction to Disaster Relief must be taken by all new trainees. The North American Mission Board requires all volunteers to be retrained in every area, including Intro, every three years. The training schedule is designed to allow for retraining in Intro in addition to other areas. (Background checks must be done every three years also.)
Registration fees:
·Registration fee for volunteers trained for the first time will be $40.
·For those previously trained and who do not need the clothing items, the charge is $20.
·The charge for any additional training events attended after the initial background check and before time for the next check would be $15.
·As a reminder, those training as chaplains for first time will have the additional cost of the chaplain specific clothing items and those training for blue hat will have the additional cost of the hat.
The ID badge will be mailed after the background check comes back clear. A sticker will be provided for the back of the ID badge showing the date a new background check is required. We are also using stickers to show when a volunteer is due to be retrained.
Registration fee is payable at the door and checks should be made payable to Missouri Baptist Convention
Types of training offered are: introduction to disaster relief, mass care (feeding), chain saw, child care, shower trailer, mud out, communication secondary operator, blue hat, assessment, and chaplain. Those training as chaplains will be asked to sign a statement concerning use of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. This training begins at 1 pm on Friday (see complete schedule in next to last paragraph). To take blue hat training a person needs to have already received training in at least one of the areas mentioned above and have had some practical experience working a disaster as a yellow hat. They must have a recommendation from someone within DR leadership. They also need to take assessment training. A volunteer may take assessment training with recommendation from someone within DR leadership. They do not have to be a blue hat to take this training. For convenience and efficiency we plan to offer all types of training at every location.
Please note that chaplain training will begin at 1 pm on Friday and continue until 5:00 pm. It will resume on Saturday morning and continue until about noon on Saturday.
Policy concerning non Southern Baptists: Non Southern Baptists may receive training at a reduced cost (currently $20) for all areas except chaplaincy, assessment, blue hat, and child care and serve as a “walk on” but not be certified or have the Disaster Relief badge, cap or shirt. Those serving as a “walk on” will also need a letter from either the Southern Baptist pastor they are involved in disaster relief with or from their own pastor. They will also need to sign a background check authorization form.
