Cape Cod’s shelters are run by volunteers and we need your help!

Your community needs you! Barnstable County’s Regional Emergency Planning Committee is partnering with the American Red Cross in an urgent effort to recruit volunteers for emergency shelters on Cape Cod this winter. Visit https://www.redcross.org/ma to sign up as a Red Cross shelter volunteer TODAY and make a real difference in your community!

Also, we invite you to join us for one of our upcoming shelter walk-throughs taking place at regional shelters throughout the Cape on upcoming Saturday mornings between 10:00 AM and 11:30 AM. Dates and locations are as follows:

October 29th – Barnstable Intermediate School
November 12th – Falmouth High School
December 3rd – Sandwich High School
December 17th – Dennis Yarmouth High School

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to make our community more resilient!

The Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee maintains an ongoing volunteer recruitment effort to ensure the Cape’s emergency shelter needs are met.

Volunteers may opt to perform critical general labor within shelters, or serve with one of the County’s shelter partners, including the following volunteer organizations:

Red Cross of the Cape, Islands, and Southeast Massachusetts (ARC)
Cape Cod Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)
Cape Cod Disaster Animal Response Team (CCDART)
Lower Cape Animal Shelter Team (LCAST)
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
Cape Cod Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
AmeriCorps Cape Cod (ACC)

To volunteer in a general manner within the County’s regional shelters, please visit one of the links above and contact the program leads. Prior to shelter deployment, all County shelter volunteers are required to undergo a criminal background check and attend a volunteer orientation with the organization they plan to volunteer with. CPR / First-Aide and Incident Command System training will be provided as well.