The recovery organization of Coffee County is a volunteer group that organizes assistance, support and resources throughout all stages of a disaster from preparations to recovery.
They're learning from the past to be prepared for the future.

"There's one thing I've never heard anyone say after a disaster and that's 'wow, I was just way too prepared'," says Mindy Collier of the Recovery Organization of Coffee County.

After the March 1st tornado in 2007, the recovery organization of Coffee County recognized two big areas they had not prepared for.

Those were deciding 'how to managed donated goods that weren't from FEMA and what to do with volunteers.

“We had massive amounts of volunteers coming in. Volunteers are always great and you're glad to see them, but they have to be organized and we have to know where they are, what they're doing. Someone needs to know where they need to be dispersed to,” says Collier.

That's why they're asking a representative from each city in Coffee County to designate centers for volunteers, donated goods, and crisis management.

We are calling on churches, a good place is church, normally they have big facilities they can accommodate large crowds if needed. plus they can go to their congregation to have people volunteer to work the center at their church,” says Billy Powell with the Enterprise Task Force.

For example at Christ the King Lutheran Church volunteers will gather here, get registered then they'll be sent to where they're needed.

Once a location is decided, they can appoint someone to oversee their church's center, and the recovery organization can train them so they're prepared, before disaster strikes.

Since the recovery organization of Coffee County is part of a statewide and national group. They have access to resources and training provide by the state.