Latest news with #TeamRubicon
CBC
26-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Out of the ashes: Volunteers help Adam's Cove wildfire victims recover irreplaceable items
A group of volunteer veterans, first responders and other skilled civilians are helping residents in Adam's Cove recover precious items from their homes that were destroyed in a wildfire in early May. Team Rubicon is a veteran-led humanitarian organization that responds to natural disasters like forest fires. "We came in as a humanitarian organization to sift through the homes to help the homeowners find anything that's valuable or [a] memento," said N.L. team lead Matthew Barron. "Could be diamond rings, wedding rings. Sometimes we found valuables like gold or silver," said Barron. "Just mementos that they were afraid they might have lost." The wildfire destroyed 12 homes in the community, leaving lots of burned debris. Alongside sifting, Barron said they will also remove any hazardous trees and other dangers. Team Rubicon sent volunteers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ottawa to help out in Adam's Cove. The organization was founded in 2010 by a U.S. veteran after the Haiti earthquake. It than grew and established itself in Canada after the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire. Now the organization is expanding and looking to help more communities impacted by disasters, like wildfire in Conception Bay North. This is the team's first operation in N.L. and they're forming a volunteer base in the province. Barron says Team Rubicon is filling in the gaps for disaster relief. "There's nobody else in Canada who is doing sifting operations for homeowners and nobody who is doing muck outs or doing chainsaw work." Rewarding work for volunteers Barron says the victims have been grateful for their help. "I mean it's helpful to give them closure," said Barron. "Everybody here is a volunteer and we don't do it for anything other than it just feels great to help people in their time of need when they've literally lost everything." Barron is a veteran himself, now retired after serving 20 years. "I found Team Rubicon as a way to utilize my skills to give back to the community," he said. WATCH | Volunteer veterans help with clean up and recovery after Adam's Cove wildfires: Sifting for hope: volunteer relief group Team Rubicon responds to Adam's Cove wildfires 6 hours ago Duration 2:07 Veteran-led disaster relief group Team Rubicon offers their volunteer services to the residents of Adam's Cove who lost their homes in the wildfires in early May. Sifting through the ashes for memorabilia and important remains, their mission is to bring communities hope and lower risk of further fire damage Veteran-volunteer from Saint John, New Brunswick, Chris Saulnier, said Team Rubicon has given him purpose after service. "Every time we brought something out that looked like a piece of memorabilia, you could tell the mood was being elevated," said Saulnier. "That homeowner is who we're here for." Hope for Adam's Cove Mayor of Small Point-Adam's Cove-Blackhead-Broad Cove Curtis Delaney said he had been asking the province for help with clean up before he was connected with Team Rubicon. "Being from a small town, we don't have the resources large municipalities have," said Delaney. "Any help that we can get is extremely important." Delaney said he is grateful for the hope and comfort Team Rubicon's help will bring to the victims. "I don't think there's any money [that] can replace, you know, what people have lost, especially when it comes to sentimental items and family heirlooms," he said. Heading into the summer months, Delaney says forest fires are still a concern. So, he says the town is trying to be extra vigilant. "We're trying to do what we can to mitigate risks" he said. And, he said there is more work to be done. "People will see a lot of work taking place and hopefully homes starting to be rebuilt as well." Debbie Marnell, a provincial government communications director, told CBC in a statement that the government engaged Team Rubicon to support impacted residents. Marnell says they're still assessing the damage in the area, and that the government remains in close contact with the community. The Department of Municipal Affairs also have the town a $30,000 grant to help with debris clean up, "and is actively working with the town to determine any additional debris clean-up costs associated with Team Rubicon," said Marnell.
CBC
26-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Sifting for hope: volunteer relief group Team Rubicon responds to Adam's Cove wildfires
Veteran-led disaster relief group Team Rubicon offers their volunteer services to the residents of Adam's Cove who lost their homes in the wildfires in early May. Sifting through the ashes for memorabilia and important remains, their mission is to bring communities hope and lower risk of further fire damage
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Team Rubicon still assisting residents with storm clean-up efforts
Many people are still cleaning up from last month's big windstorm. Team Rubicon, a volunteer disaster response team, has been in the area assisting residents with clean-up efforts. "We're volunteers and we're mostly doing saw work, although we're equipped to meet other needs," said Peter Lindner with Team Rubicon. Team Rubicon arrived in the area after the April 29 storm. They've worked on more than 80 properties in 14 days. "We're here to help this community come back from this and be resilient, as they make plans for, unfortunately, the next one," Lindner explained. Lindner leaves on Wednesday; Oscar Arauco will take over the operation. "They should expect the same level of great service from Peter and the rest of the team here for the last weeks," Arauco said. "We're going to continue through the end of the month. We are built to serve." The disaster response team is comprised mostly of veterans, who are used to answering the call for help. More than 25 crew members have boots on the ground. "This was Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. He said to look for the helpers. We hope that we're seen as the helpers in this neighborhood," said Lindner.
Time Magazine
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time Magazine
Jeff Atwood
Nearly 250 wealthy philanthropists have signed the Giving Pledge, promising to donate at least half of their fortunes during their lifetimes or upon their death. Jeff Atwood (who's not a signatory) is doing them one better. Atwood, whose computer programming platform Stack Overflow was acquired by a global investment group for $1.8 billion in 2021, committed in a blog post this January to giving away half of his wealth in the next five years. And he's already started with a bang, contributing $1 million each to eight nonprofits this year, from the Children's Hunger Fund, which provides resources to local churches, to Team Rubicon, which mobilizes veterans to help Americans recover from natural disasters. Atwood's drive to give back stems from his own background, growing up poor and financing his college education through a combination of Pell grants, scholarships, and a minimum-wage job as a cashier. His next giving goal: to work with churches, community organizations and veterans groups to make direct cash payments to residents of poor counties in West Virginia, North Carolina, and Arizona. Studies have shown, he says, that this is one of the most effective ways to lift people out of poverty. 'It's not a handout,' he says. 'It's an investment in our fellow Americans.'
CBS News
09-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
As storm cleanup continues across Allegheny County, Team Rubicon helps fill the gaps
Across Allegheny County, including in Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood, you can still find large remnants from last week's massive storm, but volunteers are on the ground, helping folks continue to pick up the pieces. Ten days later, you can still hear the chainsaws as the clean-up carries on, following the April 29 storm. Allegheny County and local municipalities are limited in the services they can provide, but there are other resources out there doing their part. This includes Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization that helps folks before, during, and after severe weather events. It just started serving people in the county, like Bill Robinson in Brookline. "Snapped the trees about this big around," Robinson said as he showed the size with his arms. The high winds knocked down huge trees in his backyard and onto his shed and outdoor garage, burying his motorcycle. He's one of more than 500 requests, the organization's incident commander, Peter Lindner, said they've received so far. They only started getting to work on Thursday, and intend to check everyone off their growing list. "We're just starting to see them filter in, and we're assessing each and every one of them," Lindner said. They'll send their site survey team out to assess the situation, and then will do tree and debris removal, along with roof tarping, and any other possible needs. Those conducting the work are all volunteers, both from our area and across the country. Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato wanted to thank them before they went to their jobs Friday morning. "It's really beautiful to see people coming together and helping each other, especially after hard times," Innamorato said to the volunteers. She said their work means a lot, having seen the struggles families are going through as they try to recover. "It's really been a team effort of saying, like, how do we make sure we're watching out for each other," Innamorato said. If you live in Allegheny County and need help with cleaning up after the storm, call 2-1-1, which can help you get hold of Team Rubicon.
