Crisis Response International announced today that its Trailblazers training event is open for weekly enrollment as it expands efforts in recruiting disaster response volunteers. The faith-based international relief organization is preparing its network of responders for an active 2022.
“We don’t know when the next major disaster will be but one thing is for sure, it’s not going to catch our teams unprepared,” said CRI Executive Director, Sean Malone.
The organization’s certified training attracts responders from across the US and into Canada to its missions base in Blue Ridge. CRI converted the former kid’s camp on Camp Jaycee Road into a community of faith-based responders and is now one of the leading Christian disaster response organizations in the nation.
“We want to involve the local community with our work and invite local churches, community groups, and individuals who have felt called to bring hope to those suffering in crisis – whether tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, or even war. Whatever the situation, whatever the reason, we’ll be there to bring hope,” said Malone.
The organization welcomes volunteers of all ages and has seen success with college-age and retirees looking for purpose and adventure in their next season of life.
“I love seeing volunteers come out, take a risk, try something new, and realize they love serving others in need.”
CRI focuses on meeting the unique spiritual, physical, and emotional needs that arise in disaster including mobilizing emergency relief supplies, volunteer workers, mobile kitchens, medical personnel, chaplains, and clean-up crews to assist people who are suffering in times of crisis and disaster.
Trailblazers, their current training program is an 11-week program with individual weeks open for registration on topics including leadership, chaplaincy, activation, evangelism, counseling, and more.
CRI started shortly after Malone found himself at Ground Zero in NYC during the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Malone was working in the movie industry doing lighting when he volunteered his crews to use their lighting equipment to help first responders recover bodies amidst the debris.
Since then, Malone and CRI have been involved in hundreds of response efforts and have positioned CRI to play a critical role in bringing supplies, manpower, and hope to national and international disasters.
