Team Rubicon, a volunteer organization that helps communities clean up following major disasters like floods, fires, storms and earthquakes, is hosting a series of training, recruitment and community activities in St. John’s, Corner Brook and Pasadena this week.

Volunteers, many of whom are veterans, helped residents find personal items in the debris, and cleared burned trees and brush following the wildfires on the Conception Bay North Shore last summer.

CEO Mischa Kaplan says last year’s wildfire season helped to underscore what Team Rubicon Canada has long understood: that the gap between disaster and effective response needs to be closed before an emergency happens, not while it is unfolding.

Capabilities Week is focused on training volunteers, and deepening relationships in preparation for the next possible disaster.

Team Rubicon volunteers – known as Greyshirts – are made up of veterans, first responders and civilians with a desire to serve.