How to volunteer in the tornado recovery

Nashville Mayor John Cooper is calling for volunteers to help with the city's tornado recovery efforts.

Nashville Metro’s Office of Emergency Management is partnering with multiple agencies to assist with these efforts, including Hands On Nashville, a nonprofit whose mission is to meet community needs through volunteerism.

Hands On Nashville posted a special message on its website seeking volunteers to be on stand-by. 

"Hands On Nashville is working closely with the City of Nashville and the Office of Emergency Management to ensure all of the available resources are in place to help our community in the wake of last night’s destructive tornadoes," the HON website stated.

"The city has emergency response personnel assessing the situation, and we are waiting to hear from them where volunteers are needed.

"Until we have specific locations to share, those interested in volunteering can (sign up).

"As individual cleanup projects are identified, they will be added to this site. We will share news and updates with you as soon as we know more."

To sign up to volunteer with Hands On Nashville, visit www.hon.org or call Hands On Nashville at 615-298-1108.

Tennessean

If you want to help with tornado cleanup, there will be several chances to volunteer this weekend.

The mayor's office and Hands on Nashville are organizing all-day volunteer days Saturday and Sunday in the areas impacted by the tornado that devastated multiple neighborhoods in Middle Tennessee.

"We know that lots of you just want to do something," Hands on Nashville wrote on their blog Tuesday. "We hear you. We love you. And what we’re hearing from the mayor’s office and our emergency responders is that it’s not quite time to deploy citizen volunteers."

The areas hardest hit are "'very dangerous" with gas leaks, downed power lines and tree damage/debris in the streets, the post continued. "What emergency crews need is for us to stay clear so they can do their work."
How to sign up to volunteer

Interested volunteers can sign up for the weekend cleanup effort at www.hon.org. Hands on Nashville says they'll be in touch with more details on how to get involved.

Although the sites and other specifics for these efforts have not been announced, organizers say there will be two workday shifts Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend shifts are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 -5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and there will likely be other opportunities as cleanup continues.

Meanwhile, the mayor's office and HON officials say emergency response personnel are continuing to assess the situation and identify high-priority areas.