General information:
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. The Introduction to Disaster Relief must be taken by all new trainees. Those previously trained should retake the unit specific training (mass care, chain saw, childcare, shower trailer, chaplaincy, etc.) every three years.
Cost of the training is $35 and is payable at the door. Checks should be made to Missouri Baptist Convention. This fee covers training, ID badge, disaster relief shirt and disaster relief hat. Meals will be provided. If you have been trained previously and do not need the clothing items, the charge is $15. Those training as chaplains for the first time will need to pay $35 even though they may have previously trained in another area because they will need the chaplain specific clothing items.
Types of training that may be offered are: introduction to disaster relief, mass care (feeding), chain saw, child care, shower trailer, mud out, blue hat, assessment, and chaplain.
Those wishing to train as chaplains must have a letter of recommendation from their pastor or director of missions. In addition, they will be asked to sign a statement concerning use of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. They will also be asked to sign an authorization for a background check. This training begins at 1 pm on Friday (see complete schedule in last paragraph of this general information section).
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 their pastor or director of missions. They also need to take assessment training. he charge for blue hat training is $15.
A volunteer may take assessment training with recommendation from their director of missions or associational disaster relief coordinator. They do not have to be a blue hat to take this training.
Please remember that the types of training offered will vary from one location to another so please be sure to check the information for the specific date you wish to train. The usual schedule for training events will begin with registration at 5:30 pm on Friday, supper to follow at 6 pm, and introduction to disaster relief will begin at 7 pm. Please note that chaplain training will begin at 1 pm on Friday and continue until supper time. It will resume on Saturday morning and continue until about noon on Saturday. Breakfast will be served at 7 am on Saturday with training to begin at 8 am. Training for chain saw will continue after lunch. The other areas of training will be scheduled so you will be able to train in more than one area. Usually, all training will be complete by 3 pm.
Concord Baptist Association will host disaster relief training on October 10-11, 2008. The event will be held at Southridge Baptist Church, 1815 Vieth Drive, Jefferson City. Training will be offered in all the areas listed in the third paragraph of the general information section above. To preregister call the Concord Baptist Association office at 573-635-4832.
First Baptist Church, 2701 Muegge Rd., St. Charles, is the site for disaster relief training on November 7-8, 2008. Training will be offered in all the areas listed in the third paragraph of the general information section above. To preregister call the church at 636-928-1311 or e-mail Lisa Coleman at lisacoleman@charter.net.
Click here to see the 2009 Disaster Relief training schedule. Details will be added as they become available.
More Disaster Relief Information
