Letter to the Editor: Interested in Joining the MRC?

Dear Brookline Residents,

The Brookline Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), with over 240 volunteers, is enthusiastically looking for new volunteers--both medical and non-medical. Volunteers have found the MRC a wonderful avenue to becoming involved in the Brookline community and meeting theirneighbors.

The purpose of the MRC is to provide volunteer services for Brookline during an emergency disaster as well as assisting with public health programs. Some members ask to be contacted in an emergency only; others volunteer at scheduled events. There is no set training; members choose to attend as many or as few of the workshops that are offered. These workshops are run in the early evening and cover an ever-changing variety of topics from emergency preparedness, to working with animals in a disaster, public health initiatives, as well as First Aid and CPR. Many workshops carry nursing, social work and EMT continuing education credits. Last year, MRC volunteers were recruited to help with vaccination clinics in the fall and assisted with cooling shelters in Brookline during the 2012 Boston Marathon. Volunteers have also helped with disasters outside Brookline, including helping Hurricane Katrina evacuees at Camp Edwards and those, last year, sheltering from storm damage in the Springfield area.

The MRC welcomes all to join us for an informal information session with refreshments on Tuesday, October 30, 2012 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Brookline Health Department in the Denny Room, 11 Pierce Street (next to the Pierce School) Brookline. Please RSVP to Dawn Sibor, dsibor@brooklinema.gov or leave a message anytime on 617-730-2656 for moreinformation. Also, please check out the Brookline MRC website, www.brooklinemrc.org

Sincerely,
Gay Hopkins and Chris McArdle
Brookline MRC Leadership Committee