When disasters happen, dedicated volunteers and professionals swing into action to help those affected by the tragedy. VolunteerLEON, Leon County’s Volunteer Center, is the lead agency for Emergency Support Function (ESF) #15 (Volunteers and Donations) in coordination with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management, as well as the community’s hub for volunteerism.

A Disaster Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) will be established and serve as the "check-in-point" for any individual or group looking to volunteer in post-disaster recovery. Citizens wishing to volunteer will be directed to the VRC location where they will be interviewed and referred to a disaster volunteer assignment.

Additionally, VolunteerLEON serves as the umbrella organization for the Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD). COAD is an association of humanitarian organizations that participate in all phases of a disaster situation: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. The goal is to streamline service delivery by bringing together all of the agencies that provide disaster relief services under the VolunteerLEON umbrella. COAD will be activated when a declared state of emergency is issued.

COAD members who have disaster relief resources and volunteers will be systematically deployed to the areas of greatest need in an effort to avoid duplication of services in the same geographical location. COAD agencies that are deployed and need additional volunteers will fill out a "disaster volunteer request" form and fax it to the VRC. Those requests will be filled with spontaneous volunteers that come to the VRC for an assignment.