RV Church Volunteers Camp Free

Did you know that you can use your RV to make a beneficial hands-on contribution that will help others? Many RVers serve their churches by working at campgrounds, orphanages, church building projects, colleges and other church related ministries. The majority of these volunteer jobs come with a free RV site including full hook-ups and sometimes meals. Many denominations have an RV club or group organized specifically for the purpose of supplying volunteer help to these projects. This week we visited our denomination's Family Services Agency in Hot Springs, Arkansas where we took a tour of the campus. They are completing two new group homes for children and volunteer RVers have been helping with the project. These ministry based organizations are always working on new projects, renovations or routine maintenance and are happy to have the extra help offered by RVers. This particular ministry has three permanent RV sites with full hook-ups. You can't just pull into the campground and report to work, you first need to be referred to the project by the organizers of the denomination RV group. In this case the RV group is called MAPS which stands for Mission America Placement Service and a background check is required of all volunteers before they are allowed to work with this group. The background check is an important safeguard to help protect children who are frequently present at camps and churches. These groups also sponsor rallies where members gather to enjoy fellowship and benefit from training sessions covering building skills. If this sounds like something you would like to do, begin by contacting your denomination headquarters and ask about their RV volunteer club. Bringing you opportunities for useful service while living aboard your RV - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

RVers Respond To Emergencies Faster Than FEMA!

Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) has a new chapter. The official name of the chapter is “Disaster Response Team” and that is exactly what they do. “Our goal is to have volunteers in all areas as needed, and to send teams into work and assist as emergencies arise.” Tony Nettuno, Karen Merideth & Marie Grogan man the chapter’s recruiting booth at the recent FMCA convention in Perry, Georgia.

Even though this chapter is only a few months old, it has already responded in two disaster situations. They primarily network with existing organizations to provide volunteers at the critical beginning stages of recovery at ground zero.

Recently they manned portable kitchens supplied by “Operation Compassion” to feed dislocated people. They did this in Enterprise, Alabama where they feed 800 people three meals a day (including the Red Cross volunteers) while they recovered from the tornado damage.This is ideal volunteer work for RVers because we can live and work out of our RV’s at ground zero. We can do this because we are fully self contained which means we bring our own water and produce our own electricity. Many of us have hamm radios and satelite communications that work even where other communications have gone down. In a disaster situation the hotels will be full and so will the temporary shelters, but we bring our own beds with us. The FMCA Disaster Response Team will grow and become a very important and well recognized organization both here and abroad. You can become a member of this organization by contacting the chapter president Bev Marshall. PO Box 156, Brockwell, AR 72517 or you may email her at Arkldy@aol.com