Team Rubicon, a group of volunteers who help people clean up and recover precious items following a disaster, didn’t have much of a presence in Newfoundland and Labrador prior to this summer’s fires, but a recent financial grant means that NL will be front and centre in the organization’s activities in Atlantic Canada.
The CEO of Team Rubicon, Mischa Kaplan, says they now have more than 100 ‘grey shirts,’ – specially trained volunteers who help homeowners retrieve what they can following a fire, storm or flood – established in the St. John’s region.
Volunteers with Team Rubicon survey the site of a home razed by fire in CBN (Team Rubicon)
Kaplan says a three-year grant from the North Pine Foundation has helped them to expand operations in this province.
“The grant just came about a few months ago, so we actually have a huge amount of momentum under us right now to establish a real presence in Newfoundland, centered around the St. John’s area, and it’s going to be a longer-term project,” says Kaplan.
“We’re hoping that Newfoundland can really become a kind of hub of operations…not just for that area, but for all of Atlantic Canada.”
Volunteers with Team Rubicon on the Conception Bay North Shore (Team Rubicon)
