The second and third quarter of 2020 can best be described as COVID chaos, a kaleidoscope of mass donations and regional distributions, days/nights and weekends. Every 24 hours passed in a flurry of receipts, delivery notes, invoices and beneficiary lists. The phones rang off the hook and the emails and Facebook post requests poured in.
The JOCC (Joint Operations Command Centre) became our second homes and daily Zoom calls with the KZN Disaster Response Team was vital shot of directional sanity.
Here is a link to the stats – the beneficiary numbers, areas and impact which is a powerful account for our collaborative efforts
This manic pace, soon eased into a steady flow of logistics and check lists, improved communication, shared workloads, WhatsApp Groups, LEANS and churches working together, new collaborations and more hands and feet on deck to help as more of the other programme staff came back onsite to work.
We strategized who needed what and who was in fact was presenting as the “most vulnerable” including the “new vulnerable”. This helped us update our beneficiary lists and to assist/ create sustainable impact into those that most need food relief and support.
It is an ongoing programme that is slowing down as people settle into a new ‘normal’ and various stakeholders, churches and corporates play their parts more proactively in Alert Level 1 of Lockdown. We have moved into a phase of ‘Preparedness’ for the Summer Rains and potential Shack Fires that normally take place in the final quarter of each year
Cath Whittle also heads up The Domino Disaster Response Unit and was nominated as a News 24 Every Day Hero
WARNING !
The pandemic is far from over and we are constantly looking to build long term sustainable partnerships for Disaster Relief and Response, with a particular emphasis on PREPARATION to avoid ‘known and the more predictable’ disasters …
Is that you/your company or your church? Then please connect with our Donor Relations Team – Karen Brokensha or Tarin Stevenson on ways to partner in this space.
