TOOLBANK DISASTER SERVICES: DETAILED DEPLOYMENT ACTIVITY
Huge thanks to our partners for the support during these deployments:
- Ford Motor Company Fund
- Volunteer Florida
- Lowe’s
- The Home Depot Foundation
- UPS
- Stanley Black and Decker
- First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin
Hurricane Ian:
- TDS and TDS Program Director, Bill Hess, have established basecamp in Punta Gorda, Florida at the American Legion alongside Team Rubicon.
- Current assets on the ground:
- Ford Transit and camper
- 24′ tool trailer – based in Ft. Myers
- 24’ tool trailer – based in Desoto County
- 53′ tool trailer – based in Punta Gorda
- 53′ tool trailer – will be based on Cape Coral
- We have provided tools to Core, P.E.R.T., Cajun Navy Ground Force, Team Rubicon – Punta Gorda, Team Rubicon – Cape Coral, Team Rubicon – Arcadia, AmeriCorp, Inspiritus, Next Level Church, Rise Disaster Services, and City of Sanibel.
- To date, we have provided tools to complete 933 projects, equip 887 volunteers and completed 3,556 volunteer hours. We have loaned a bit over $325k worth of tools.
- In addition to tools, we are providing PPE to volunteers (N95 masks, Tyvek suits, safety glasses, etc.)
- We have contracted a local community member, Deanna Ward, to run our tool lending and outreach program for the next 9 weeks.
- We estimate that our response will be 12 weeks (December 21) and then will evaluate our options for long-term recovery. Our intent is to become a part of the community in helping with the rebuild.
- We are going to roll out our new tool tracking platform and test it during this deployment. We are excited about the functionality and what this new “tool” in our inventory will mean for our program.
Hurricane Fiona:
- Current operation:
- Basecamp is at our warehouse in Caguas (renting space from the Salvation Army)
- 53′ trailer
- We have provided tools to All Hands and Hearts, Cities of Love, The Mission Continues, and ProTechos. Jaime Valle, TDS Puerto Rico Program Manager, continues to outreach to organizations to see how we can support.
- Our team is monitoring if there are any additional tool needs on the island and will work with our partners to transport them if needed.
- Having Jaime engaged in the community and actively lending tools to our member agencies has helped our immediate response efforts to this disaster.
TDS West Territory Hub – Sacramento:
- Piloting a program with West Slope Foundation in El Dorado County, California in response to the Caldor Fire.
- We continue to engage in ongoing conversations with organizations supporting long-term recovery groups from the Almeda, Caldor, Camp Fire, and Dixie fires to learn of the need and create an action plan for TDS out west.
- Strategy:
- Create a hub in Sacramento that would serve dual purpose (1) wildfire support and long-term recovery; (2) community-based organizations in the greater Sacramento area
- We will equip local community groups with trailers of tools in the more rural communities to support their recovery efforts
- Start-up funding will be provided by American Red Cross and Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP)
TDS South Central Territory Hub – Dallas:
Patty Russart and Charlie Brown (Past Board President of TBUSA) met with the Community Foundation of Texas. Their staff will leverage their connections to help identify possible warehouse locations and have offered to host a “Welcome to Dallas” party for us to meet local funders and other community-based organizations once we are on the ground.
TDS – New Orleans:
Continue to build ToolBank brand awareness throughout the community and work alongside our disaster partners doing long-term recovery. To date, we have loaned tools to Krewe of Red Beans, The Mission Continues, Cajun Navy Ground Force, SBP, Catholic Charities, just to name a few.