Vet News: Team Rubicon Commemorates Seven Years of Veterans Continuing Their Service Through Disaster Response

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To commemorate its seventh anniversary, Team Rubicon® (TR) encourages Americans to sign up to serve their community.

Friday, Jan. 13, marks TR's Go Day, when in 2010, a small group of veterans and first responders traveled to Haiti to provide relief in the wake of a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. The quake was the strongest to strike the region in 200 years, which resulted in the loss of 200,000 lives and left nearly 900,000 Haitians homeless.

Since then, TR has evolved from a spontaneous team of eight into a veteran-led disaster response organization with over 42,000 volunteers who've responded to over 160 disasters around the world.

"We've grown tremendously since 2010," said TR cofounder and CEO Jake Wood. "Now with the involvement and dedication of so many volunteers nationwide, we're building stronger, more resilient communities here at home.

In 2016, TR had a significant impact on communities across the country by providing disaster response training to over 9,000 veterans and civilian volunteers, assisting more than 2,500 homeowners recover from disasters, and logging more than 85,000 volunteer hours during disaster response operations. Every dollar donated to Team Rubicon generates at least $7 worth of value in disaster-stricken communities.

Go Day is a day of action. Join TR and volunteer to help those affected by disasters. Find out how to get involved here.

"On Go Day we hope to engage veterans that may be looking for a new way to answer the call to service," said Wood. "Through Team Rubicon they can apply the unique skills and camaraderie they gained in the military, and join with civilian volunteers in giving back to their communities."