Veteran-Led Disaster Response and Humanitarian Group Team Rubicon Commemorates "A Decade of Service and Grit"
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Team Rubicon, a veteran-led global disaster response organization, today marks ten years since its first relief operation, which was launched in the wake of the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010.
On Jan. 13 of that year – "GO DAY" as Team Rubicon calls it – a team of eight veterans, first responders and like-minded civilians banded together and set out for Port au Prince. Crossing the Artibonite River from the Dominican Republic into Haiti with a map torn from a Wall Street Journal article, the team applied skills and experience gleaned from their time in the military to travel into the most difficult to reach areas and deliver medical aid to thousands of people impacted by the disaster.
Team Rubicon has since grown to more than 100,000 volunteers, most of them veterans and first responders. On this tenth anniversary of GO DAY, the organization is honoring the commitment of its volunteers with a 10th-anniversary theme of "A Decade of Service and Grit." The nonprofit will also release a documentary film later this year commemorating its first decade, with the working title "Days Full of Light." (Watch teaser for the film here.)
"It's been humbling to watch Team Rubicon grow from a small group of eight to a hundred thousand mostly veteran volunteers who've delivered help and hope all over the country and the globe," said Jake Wood, Team Rubicon co-founder and CEO. "Our strategy is to build and scale the organization in ways that make communities more resilient—across town and around the world—by connecting passionate, trained veteran volunteers to people in need."
Through a robust and cutting-edge technology infrastructure, Team Rubicon volunteers efficiently help families back into their homes as quickly as possible, prioritizing aid to the most vulnerable among disaster-affected populations. Leveraging the skills and experience of military veterans in its disaster responses makes the organization's teams uniquely effective. With each operation, Team Rubicon provides veterans the opportunity to continue their service to others in a meaningful way after re-entering civilian life. With Team Rubicon, many veterans find a renewed sense of community, identity and purpose similar to what they felt while serving uniform.
From its 2010 founding through year-end 2019, Team Rubicon launched 412 operations across all 50 U.S. states and 23 countries. Its teams responded to hurricanes including Harvey, Sandy, Florence, Michael, and Dorian, as well as post-fire recovery efforts in California. It has rebuilt 121 homes (and counting) with a new program started in 2018 and created over $34 million in savings for disaster-affected communities.
About Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon is a nonprofit organization that serves communities by mobilizing veterans to continue their service, leveraging their skills and experiences to help people prepare, respond, and recover from disasters and humanitarian crises. Programs and services are made possible by the support of individual donors, corporate partners, philanthropic foundations and the dedication of volunteers across the country. To join or support Team Rubicon's mission, visit http://www.teamrubiconusa.org.
View the teaser video for the documentary film "Days Full of Light" here.
Media Contact:
Alyssa Carfi
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SOURCE Team Rubicon
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