Disaster Org names CRWRC response director to board president

[Worldwide Faith News]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 2, 2008


Beth DeGraff, CRWRC-US Media Contact, 616-648-7821
Bill Adams, CRWRC Disaster Response Services Director, 616-560-2782



National VOAD names CRWRC Disaster Director, Bill Adams, as Board President



GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. - Bill Adams, five-year Disaster Response 
Services Director for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee 
(www.crwrc.org), was named President of the Board of Directors for 
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) at the 
Association's 16th annual conference in early May.

The 2008 Annual VOAD Conference was held in Little Rock, Ark., from 
May 5th through 8th, where Adams was elected to replace Tom 
Hazelwood, U.S. Disaster Coordinator for UMCOR, on the 13-member Board.

Adams says the one-year election "reflects CRWRC's excellent, 
long-standing reputation among U.S. non-government organizations 
responding to disaster," such as Catholic Charities U.S.A., the 
Southern Baptist Convention, the Salvation Army, and the American Red Cross.

Adams is the latest of several CRWRC Disaster Response Directors to 
hold the National VOAD Board post, including previously elected 
Presidents and CRWRC-DRS Managers, Michael Bruinooge in the mid-1990s 
and Neil Molenaar in the mid-1980s.

"Throughout its history," says Molenaar, who has remained active in 
the Washington State VOAD, "CRWRC Disaster Response Services can be 
humbly proud of getting into the thick of things....When I look at 
where NVOAD is today, it truly has made great strides forward in 
influencing disaster preparedness, response, and recovery....Bill 
deserves a lot of credit for being placed in this particular national 
leadership position. With his leadership, he and the National Board 
can assist NVOAD in attaining even more impact in the coming year."

Under Adams's leadership, CRWRC Disaster Response Services has grown 
out of the Agency's headquarters into offices in Byron Center, Mich., 
where a small staff manages more than 2,000 trained volunteers and 
the housing, repairing, and readying a fleet of 40 vehicles for 
deployment in a variety of domestic disaster response actions - in 
hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and floods.

In the last two years, CRWRC-DRS volunteers have repaired more than 
600 homes damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and sent more 
than 200 church and youth work groups into the area to assist with 
clean up and rebuilding, among many other critical responses.

As a part of NVOAD, CRWRC coordinates its responses with forty eight 
other non-government and church-related organizations, and with 
Emergency Management representatives from each State and territory in the U.S.

The affiliation improves the organizations' responses by facilitating 
communication and collaboration, fostering pre-existing 
relationships, eliminating duplication of services on the ground, and 
supplementing the response capabilities of government agencies such 
as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While organized in 
1970, NVOAD, representing its member agencies, has become a key 
partner to FEMA in the National Response Plan in preparing for and 
responding to federally-declared disasters in the U.S.

Members of the press can arrange an interview with CRWRC Disaster 
Response Director, Bill Adams, by calling 616-560-2782. Or call CRWRC 
Media Contact, Beth DeGraff, for more information at 616-648-7821 or 
1-800-55-CRWRC.

For more information about these programs, visit www.crwrc.org or 
call 1-800-55-CRWRC