The Canadian Red Cross was at the University College of the North campus in Thompson yesterday recruiting for their Disaster Management Program.

The Disaster Management Program takes Canadians and puts them through a training course in order to better service their community in the event of a disaster, whether it be a house fire or a community evacuation.

The head of the Manitoba Disaster Management Program, Cailin Hodder, says that new volunteers, especially in Thompson, are always necessary.

“Thompson is very unique in geographical location, but as well as risk. In the last year, we’ve seen, out of our larger scale disasters, four out of the five have required the activation of our Thompson team. So I call that risk pretty significant, and I think what’s important for us to do, in order to prepare, is to build our volunteer team.”

The Thompson volunteer team currently has 15 volunteers, but Hodder is hoping to increase that number by 10. If you want to sign up to volunteer, send an email to MB.volunteer@redcross.ca.