Frequently Asked Questions

There are many disasters that can impact a local church. The big ones, hurricanes, tornados, and flooding seem to impact specific areas more than others, but that does not mean that every church should not be prepared for a disaster. Localized flooding, active shooter, and heart attack in the church. There are many disasters that you can prepare for, and some are completely unexpected, but disasters are part of life. Everything from a flat to a dead battery can have a blood pressure-spiking impact. 

Reach Out America is working to be a resource for disaster mitigation information. Our website has information and links to information that is available from a wide variety of our partners. We also host links to many good training opportunities for members of your local church, from Red Cross lifesaving and safety training, to how to muck out a house after a flood, and how to distribute truckload quantities of emergency supplies delivered by our corporate partners. Each disaster is different, and chaos can be common in a disaster, but a trained response from the church to the community is.

Have a leadership team member receive some basic training. There are a wide variety of skills needed from CPR which can be used anywhere to Emergency distribution training. You can learn to use a chainsaw to clear downed trees, through local classes. ROA’s website has links to training provided through FEMA, Red Cross, and others. Connect with us to learn how you can grow your skills to become qualified to be a trainer and train others. 

Typically, pastors will communicate to their superintendent that there is a need for a response, or through relationships, people will reach out to a ROA team member and ask for help. Sometimes ROA does reach out to see if we can be of service. 

Reach Out America has responded to fires in California, floods in Nebraska, tornadoes in Tornado Alley, and hurricanes all along the coast, from New York and New Jersey through the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and over to Texas. ROA began serving in Mexico communities impacted by disaster. We have served in the Philippines, Australia, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. We were active in Houston during a recent severe freeze, and our help ballooned unexpectedly due to the severity of the freeze and the need for water. We partner with CSI when an international disaster happens to provide resources when financially feasible for us to do so. When the earthquake struck Haiti a couple of years ago, we were able, through our partners to deliver $150,000 worth of food, medical supplies, and even 10 commercial medical quality water purifiers to churches in impacted areas so they could provide water to their local communities. All was delivered free of charge to the churches in Haiti because of our partners and a special opportunity with our shipping partner, the UPS Foundation. 

Reach Out America is a 501c3 non-profit corporation that has served North America and beyond for about 27 years now. We respond to large-scale disasters, through the local church or community organizations. We gather info on disaster conditions and then coordinate help through UPCI Men’s ministry for disaster recovery efforts, such as mucking out flooded homes, or tarping roofs. Our first effort is to minimize damage from the disaster, and then to help communities to recover. We coordinate and communicate with District superintendents, presbyters, and local pastors to understand the extent of the damage and how we can bring resources to bear on the issues of that disaster. Often, we respond with emergency supplies such as nonperishable food, water, baby supplies, cleaning supplies, and emergency resources. We have a few corporate partners that make products available for distribution and reach out to us to partner with them.

The size and scope of the disaster dictate what kind of corporate response we receive. We also work with other NGOs such as Feed the Children, Feed The Hungry, the Red Cross, and Convoy of Hope to try to meet the needs of a community. Our goal is to fulfill Jesus’ words that those who give a cup of water to a child will receive the reward, which we pray is people connected and added to the local churches who we help through.  

In a disaster zone, a church can help by becoming a POD or (Point of Distribution) Reach Out America ships truckload quantities into devastated communities. After determining the needs, we typically set up a POD or Point of Distribution. This can be a church gym or fellowship hall. Sometimes we have used a hallway, or even the auditorium for short-term recovery events, such as a tornado. We typically bring semi-sized deliveries to a central POD and then distribute out to small box truck-sized deliveries into communities around the main POD. We call this a hub-and-spoke method.

Large or Medium Response - Can you handle box truck quantities of a donated item or semi-load quantities of the donated products? 

That depends on the size of your building, and the number of volunteers available. ROA works with you to help understand both the need and your resources available. 

Forklifts - Most large-scale PODs must deal with products delivered on pallets, so borrowing a forklift from a local company for a few hours to unload the semis is vital to not overworking your people by having them try to hand unload 24 pallets of product, and then move them into a church gym or fellowship hall can be a long and physically taxing effort. You can wear your people out before you even begin preparing your product for distribution. A borrowed forklift can handle the job simply, and it is amazing how many people will help you help your community. 

Pallet Jack - A pallet jack is also essential to move pallets around inside your building, or across the parking lot if the forklift use is temporary. These can also be temporarily borrowed from local businesses that members of your church are connected to. 

A variety of miscellaneous items are listed on our website as well, under resources. 

The most effective way to help is through a donation. A dollar donated to Reach Out America can result in $20 worth of products being delivered to a disaster area. In 2021, a single dollar donated resulted in almost $50 worth of products being delivered to needy communities, both in disasters and in community service to underprivileged families. Funding ROA supports the basics of a disaster operation. Most of our team are volunteers, so our overhead is minimal, but in order to be effective we are working to grow our staff so as to not overwork our volunteers. 

We have a volunteer skills assessment on our website. Sign up there, and as we have disasters happen, we will reach out to see if your skills can be used in a disaster. 

As a volunteer, we provide locations where you can apply your skill, but you would be responsible for transportation and housing. Please connect with us before traveling, as sometimes locations can be without power, water, and other normal amenities. Hotels can be booked due to the enormous number of people in the community assisting recovery efforts. 

Federal Reimbursement

FEMA will reimburse a community’s government to help with the cost of rebuilding a devastated community, if volunteers will log their hours with a National or Local VOAD organization, and they turn those hours in to FEMA for reimbursement. Florida was reimbursing $27.50 an hour for every hour a volunteer worked with a VOAD organization during the recent Ian hurricane. 

• A warm and fuzzy feeling and friendships that last a lifetime. 

• An opportunity to minister to a hurting family with the love of Christ.  

Serving With your Community – The disaster response community is guided by FEMA and NVOAD, which is the National Volunteer Organization Assisting in Disasters, and ROA is a national member. Every UPCI church is a partner with Reach Out America, as we are an affiliated organization with the UPCI, and are the designated response organization for North America. Therefore, your church can help with and through Reach Out America’s efforts to serve your community in a disaster, and our partners will work with you as we coordinate the efforts. This means many of the organizations serving your community will help us serve your church, and through your church.  Your local Disaster management team from your city, county, or state is a partner with us, and our training and efforts to help will be coordinated with their response. Our team communicates with a statewide VOAD on a daily call to find out what is needed and where it is needed.

Along this line, there are a few people already in your community with servant hearts, who will help you serve your community if you make it known that you want help. Ask through a radio or PSA-type announcement if you need volunteers. Allow yourself to think bigger than what you have ever done before, and people will be drawn to help you succeed in serving others. This is an awesome opportunity to connect with people God has around your church, and maybe influence them not just for a moment, but for eternity. 

Resources and training which will help you are available on our website from ROA and links to our partner’s training are available as well.